Stupid Sensei
by Natarii-loves-Chocolate-milk
Summary: If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, ItaSaku, & other side pairings. M for lemons, violence, and mentions of torture.
1. Jonin

**Stupid Sensei**  
><strong>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<strong>

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><strong>- - Chapter One - -<br>****Jonin**

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><p><em>'The monochromy blows through our colourless encounter;<br>I shall entrust every pain of mine to you.'_

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><p>"I said <em>no<em> mother – I'm not going" Sasuke replied calmly in response to his mother's sudden and horrifying announcement.

"Sasuke! You'll be twenty-seven next week! You should be thinking of these things more seriously! At least go meet the girl! You might even like her!" Mikoto Uchiha persisted, following him to the shoe-box by the door to his old family home.

"Mother, I'm more interested in making sure this Genin team I've been saddled with survives until the Chunin exams right now" Sasuke replied exasperatedly, pulling on his sandals and picking up his katana from where it leant against the wall.

"You should consider yourself honoured Hokage-sama gave you a Genin team at all after that _mess_ the clan elders caused! Your father applied you know, but that damned _Council_ wouldn't have it!" his mother replied, catching his shoulder as he fastened his sword to the back of his flack jacket.

"That pair of old warts will be watching you like _hawks_ Sasuke, so make sure you look after those kids!" she instructed very firmly, dusting off the shoulders of his jacket and straightening his untameable fringe with fussy hands.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her actions, but knew better than to tryto escape without letting her fuss for a few minutes; his father didn't even bat an eyelid, instead adding a letter to the crossword he was completing. Sasuke gave him an envious glare, to which the man gave a silent smirk in response.

He'd always wondered how his father had ended up with a wife so much livelier (and ten years younger) than himself; considering how hard it was just to get out of the house even now, maybe Fugaku Uchiha simply hadn't been fast enough at running.

"Mother, I think I can look after three twelve-year-olds. I just don't want a wife alright? If that changes, I'll tell you, but let me at the very least pick the poor girl out myself. Stop fussing and go sit down – you shouldn't be moving around so much..." he replied, finally stopping her when she attempted to wipe some dirt from his cheek.

"_I agree_ – remember what Tsunade-sama told you Mikoto. You're supposed to _rest_" his father intoned, speaking the most in one sentence since Sasuke had arrived to check up on his mother.

Aged forty-six, Mikoto Uchiha had been placed back on the Jonin registry once both her sons had been admitted to the ANBU; she was a skilled illusion mistress and swords-woman, outside of her generic elemental techniques. Within them, she was one of the few Jonin to have activated three elements instead of the usual two – fire, lightning, and water.

Unfortunately, she had been caught off guard by a skilled medic known to be a henchman of Orochimaru. He had nearly crippled her by cutting several of her muscles; had Tsunade Senju herself not been in the village at the time, she wouldn't be even be standing, let alone walking.

Slowly, she was beginning to rehabilitate, but that kind of injury had rendered her off duty for at least three years. Even with expensive medical treatment from the medic teams.

"Oh _fine..._ If you're that paranoid, I'll sit down! You boys are all a set of worry-warts!" she complained, pulling his head down to kiss him on the cheek before pushing him out of the door (though not without a hug first).

"_Goodbye_ mother" Sasuke said with slight relief, giving an inclination of his head in his father's direction before heading out onto the street.

"I'll see you tomorrow; tell Itachi to come visit when he gets back from his mission tonight, and _make sure_ he goes to the hospital for his eye appointment on Thursday!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that morning.

"I'll tell him, I'll tell him. I've got to _go_ mother."

Finally letting go and allowing him to walk down the street; he waited perhaps five seconds before she predictably found something else to say.

"Remember what I said Sasuke! Don't you _dare_ scare those poor kids out of their wits! And don't be _late!_ If I hear word that you've turned up three hours late like Hatake-san, I'll box your ears boy!"

Really, when she said things like that, Sasuke had to wonder if his mother_ realized_ he was actually a grown man who could look after himself. He didn't think it had quite penetrated her mind that he was an adult yet... It was an eternal frustration, and it would probably get worse if he ever did find a regular girlfriend.

That being said, she was his mother, so he was obliged to humour her. Shaking his head at his mother's antics, Sasuke left the compound and headed into the village itself.

When he had been a child, the compound had been composed solely of Uchihas; after the Fourth Hokage had exposed the elders' plots of mutiny, he'd ordered the Uchihas beintegrated into the village, thinking the ostracizing within the compound walls had been part of the problem.

Sasuke hadn't really understood it much back then; he'd been thirteen when the elders and other conspirators had been sentenced to a public hanging, and had been placed in the ANBU squad guarding the underground cells with Itachi. Now though, he could see how good a decision it had been.

People were still wary of the Uchihas, but they got along much better with them than they had before; his mother had friends in the other clans now, something she'd never really had back then (She got along horribly well with Tsume Inuzuka).

The sight of the Hokage tower rose in front of him, and Sasuke quickened his pace; his mother wasn't joking when she said she would box his ears, and he could still feel such reprimands from when he was seven years old.

He had no desire_ whatsoever_ to re-live them.

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><p>Entering the Hokage's office at twelve in the afternoon, Sasuke was reunited with some of his old companions; Sakura Haruno had been his team-mate along with his brother, under the tutelage of Ibiki Morino. She was now his future sister-in-law.<p>

Unlike his brother, who was going to retire into the T&I department after his stint as an ANBU, Sakura had not taken a liking to the interrogation arts. Instead she chose to work with Tsunade Senju herself at the hospital, and preferred simple tricks and illusions. That and a heck load of weapons; she had more shuriken than his entire graduating class put together.

Also amongst the line up of Jonin were Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi, Gai, and Neji (another early riser from his graduating year). Taking his place beside Sakura, she took one look at him and laughed under her breath.

"She got you again didn't she?" the pink haired Jonin asked, re-securing her red headband atop her head; Sasuke muttered a few inaudible complaints under his breath, but stopped when the Hokage entered his office along with Shikaku Nara and Tsunade Senju.

Whilst technically not the advisers which his mother had warned him about, they did the job in their stead most of the time. The other old bats may had the position in legalities, but the Hokage had a fun habit of pretending not to hear what they said on occasion (the word 'occasion' meaning most of the time).

"My god Kakashi, you actually showed up for once?" Tsunade asked in mock surprise, earning a few titters from the room; Kakashi ignored them all and continued to read his porn book.

"Only because I told him to arrive three hours earlier than everyone else" the Hokage grinned, taking his seat behind the desk and rifling through the files on his desk.

Minato Namikaze was Konoha's Fourth Hokage, and while he had certainly earned his reputation during the third ninja war, he was best known for defeating the Kyuubi.

Sort of; technically, it had been his wife who had used her remaining life to seal the Kyuubi inside their daughter twelve years ago. Minato himself had been busy restraining the giant beast, _and Sasuke's_ mad ancestor Madara. That last point was a secret to those who had arrived to help hold the beast off though, Sasuke being one of them.

"Alright, Asuma you've got one of the Ino-Shika-Cho trios, Kurenai, I've given you a tracking squad... Kakashi, you have a bunch of heavy hitter hopefuls – please try to _pass_ them this time..." the Hokage started, handing out a file to each of the Jonin he had mentioned.

There was a scuffle as they stepped forward to receive the files, and then some more names Sasuke didn't recognize were read out. After receiving files of their own, some familiar names were finally called out.

"Sakura Haruno; you have an Inuzuka, a Nara, and Iruka's little sister... Neji Hyuuga; An Aburame, a Yamanaka, and Ibiki's son for you – try not to scare the poor kids _again..._" the Hokage called out handing the relevant folders to Sakura and Neji as they stepped forward.

The blonde man continued to call out names, going over a few things with various Jonin – things like troubled upbringings and such that needed to be taken into account. As he spoke, Sasuke had a nose at the names in the folder of his ex team-mate; Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, and Tenten Umino.

That was a surprise; there were several Ino-Shika-Cho teams this year, but he had been expecting Shikaku's kid to go with Inochi and Choza's, never mind an Inuzuka outside a tracking team. The Hokage must be trying a new set up of some kind... Maybe the three would train together with their families? Most of them were related so it wouldn't be surprising.

Sakura gave him a cheery wave goodbye before heading out the door, leaving Sasuke to have a sidelong glance at Neji's folder; Shino Aburame, Sai Morino, and Ino Yamanaka. Now that was a team that made more sense; it was a good set up for an investigative team of some kind, if not an interrogation one.

He'd heard of that Sai boy a few years ago; he'd been rescued from that underground ANBU organisation that Danzo controlled. His testimony had allowed Minato to put a price on Danzo's head, even if the goat had escaped. Neji had been one of those to hang back for a few words, and no doubt it was concerning Ibiki's kid.

As far as village gossip went, the Yamanaka clan had been helping him regain his emotions and understand things again. Neji gave a nod before following Sakura out of the door, leaving Sasuke by himself until he was finally the only Jonin left in the room with the blonde Hokage.

While he didn't know who would make up the last member of his first team, he could guess the other two with some degree of accuracy. The man's failure to mention the name of his own daughter and Choza's son confirmed two of them.

"Well, here's your team Sasuke... I want to go over a few things concerning them before you head for the academy. You have a somewhat complicated group, but consider it a sign of fate..." the man stated, handing Sasuke his own folder to open and examine.

Sure enough, the two names he had guessed were there in the folder; Choji Akimichi, Naruko Namikaze, and Rock Lee. He'd heard about that Lee kid too – something about being adopted by Gai a couple of years ago. He'd still been in the ANBU then, and there had been a bit of a fuss when the man had left to look after the kid properly.

"I'm guessing they have to do with your daughter?" Sasuke asked, closing the folder and looking back at his leader; he could read the rest of the folder later.

"Some of it, but the other two have their own problems too; Choji is a fairly well-rounded student but... He didn't get along with many kids outside the Nara and Yamanaka clans, what with his weight, never wanted to learn beyond the basics and his Clan Techniques. He's got promise but he has some self esteem issues... He's going to need some persuasion if he's going to develop into that potential..."

Sasuke didn't find that all that surprising; there had been an Akimichi in his graduating year with the same problem. It wasn't until all the fat had turned into muscle that people realized how strong a clan the Akimichis were – unlike most bloodlines, theirs didn't activate properly till puberty started to hit, so what became muscle would just be fat for at least another year.

Sasuke did know how to solve self-esteem problems though. His brother was older by mere minuets, but he was so far above his skill that it had been issue worthy when he was a child. They both graduated at the same time, joined the Chunin ranks, and even the ANBU at the same time, but Itachi was still ahead of him.

"Rock Lee – again, he shows promise, but he has a disease in his chakra network. He can't use his chakra for ninja techniques or illusions, and though his physical and book grades are good... He needs a _lot_ of help. He's been getting check ups with Tsunade since Gai adopted him, but she isn't having much luck yet..."

Sasuke felt like swearing; he knew which team he had been given now. Team 7, the team with the highest and lowest graduating students. The team number was infamous for being perpetually cursed in one way or another. The village founders had been in Team 7. The third Hokage and the council members had been in Team 7. The Sannin had been in Team 7. The Hokage himself had been in Team 7. Kakashi had been in Team 7.

There was one common theme in them; something_ always _went horribly wrong.

The first instigation had involved Hashirama Senju, Mito Uzumaki, and Madara Uchiha - that was the _first_ disaster in the making if ever there was one. Then came the Third Hokage's team; they were all still alive, but one could hardly call their relationship friendly. Politics had killed _that_ particular team.

And of course, after that Orochimaru went nuts with his immortality/human experimentation scheme (from which Sasuke himself, Anko, and Tenzo had only marginally escaped). Jiraiya-sama had left with sudden guilt-ridden wanderlust, and Tsunade-sama was still a drunk despite her medical professionalism.

One of the current Hokage's team-mates had been sent back to childhood after a blow to the head in the second war, a permanent resident on Konoha Hospital's Psychological Ward. His second was still in a coma he probably wouldn't wake up from. One of Kakashi's team-mates was missing, and the other was dead. Team 7 was the most cursed team in Konoha's history. It was jinxed.

He just knew there would be problems in the future, and he hadn't even heard what he was expecting on the only Kunoichi under his tutelage yet... something Minato soon rectified.

"...I don't have to tell you about Naruko's situation; you were there. The villagers don't trust the seal not to break, and I'm not around as much as I should be so... Well, despite being the best in her class, she's something of a... _hell-raiser..._" he started, running a frustrated hand through one side of his hair.

Sasuke snorted; hell-raiser simply wasn't a word strong enough to describe Naruko Namikaze. The Hyuugas _still_ hadn't forgiven her for that thing with the toads, nor the Inuzukas for the scent bombs. Then there was the decoration he had woken up to that one morning all over the monument...

No doubt she skipped classes too, and that was before all the Kyuubi and political red wire hanging around her came to light. She wasn't just inheriting her father's bloodline, but her mother's too, and both were rather coveted in foreign villages... Dear gods of Fire, _why_ had he chosen _this_ year to leave the ANBU for Jonin?

"...the reason I assigned you as her teacher is because of your bloodline; it would be stupid not to. Don't take that the wrong way – it means I trust you enough to let you handle the Kyuubi should her emotions get the best of her. The seal won't fail, but it was _designed_ for Jinchuriki in the first place, so she will be able to use it eventually. I have to take precautions" the Hokage finished.

Sasuke had thought of that, but he understood it; it would be stupid to get into a huff simply because his bloodline was a factor in his appointment. That was how missions worked after all. His mad ancestor had already proved that the Sharingan could control the Kyuubi into attacking Konoha, so why not do the same in reverse?

"I understand sir" Sasuke replied; the man glanced at him, and then his face gained a weary smile as he pulled a stack of paperwork forward.

"In that case, I think you should start heading on over to the academy; their lunch break is finishing soon and you wouldn't want to be late" he stated, silently but politely dismissing him.

Sasuke remembered his mother's threat about boxing his ears earlier and shivered.  
>No; he certainly did <em>not<em> want to be late.

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><p><strong><em>I know, I promised this story ages ago in my Poll. It's been lingering on my computer begging to be uploaded even though it isn't finished. Probably because it hasn't been uploaded. I have more interest in stories that are already uploaded in terms of finishing them so...<em>**

**_For the sake of clarification, Sasuke and Itachi aren't Identical twins, just fraternal ones, so they still look different._**

**_Song quote is from _'Monochrome no Kiss'_ by SID. _**  
><strong><em>Kuroshitsuji fans may know it XD<em>**

**_Hope you like :)_**  
><strong><em>Nat.<em>**  
><strong><em>xxx<em>**

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><p><em><strong>This chapter was Beta'd by the fantastic <strong>_**XxJeanettexX. Huge virtual hugs and cookies to her for all the effort :)**


	2. Genin

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<br>**

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><p>

**- - Chapter Two - -**  
><strong>Genin<strong>

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><p><em>'Even if the present moment is cut up by the setting sun<em>,  
><em>our shadows are overlapping.'<em>

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><p>Naruko Namikaze was very nervous as she waited with the rest of the graduates for their new Jonin teachers to arrive. She was so nervous that she was scaring the shit out of Ino and Tenten by fiddling with her clothes.<p>

Naruko _never_ fiddled with her clothes.

She chewed the end of one of her orange halter-neck straps like a rodent (ignoring Ino's alarmed look), her fingers tugging at the hem of the shirt; it fell to just over her thighs, and had a beige belt fastened low around her waist, attached to which were some storage pouches, and her sealing kit.

Her legs, covered up with some skin-tight blue leggings mid thigh in length, and a pair of blue midcalf heelless boots, were also kicking nervously beneath the bench she was seated on. While it would be overlooked by the less experienced, a good Jonin would also have noticed she did not carry a shuriken holster or a weapons pouch.

She might have gone on to chew the blue arm-warmers with orange edging (much like Ino's, as was the current fashion trend) on her forearms too, if not for Tenten poking the bare skin of her back to jerk her out of the daze. Falling under the twin glares from her friends, Naruto fished an onigiri from her lunch box and chewed on that instead.

"Jeez would you relax Naruko-chan? You're making me nervous! I don't get it; Hokage-sama gave you a really _awesome_ teacher! What's to be nervous _about?_" Tenten asked, holding out a box of chocolate biscuit bites to Ino.

"Yeah! I mean, sure you got stuck with Choji and Lee, but they're not that bad! Least you didn't get stuck with some prissy Hyuuga teacher like me..." the blonde girl muttered, taking stuffing some of the biscuits and stuffing them in her mouth irritably.

"I guess..." Naruko replied, finishing the last of her onigiri and starting on her mini daifuku – there was no protest in her tone, but neither was there any agreement.

Naruko was not worried about making good a first impression or things like that; neither was she worried about not getting along with Choji and Lee. She just didn't want to be stuck with some bigoted idiot until she got to Chunin rank , thank you very much.

Her dad wouldn't show her any favouritism, he was barley home for more than six hours even at the weekend, but she was hoping he'd have given her someone decent for a teacher. She could put up with a bigot, but that didn't mean she wanted to if she had alternatives.

He'd told her about the Kyuubi a few days ago as a (very _bad_) early graduation present (the real one was access to her mother's family scrolls for when she activated her Uzumaki bloodline). To say she had been mad was something of an understatement.

She usually got along well enough with her father, especially given his lack of presence in her life. Finding out about she had been used to seal away a demon days before graduating - when he'd had _twelve years_ to inform her of this - was not something she could say she was happy with.

She'd heard people muttering names like _'demon'_ or simply _'that girl'_ in hushed tones all her life – though they never said it directly to her face. Most people chose to give her glares instead. She'd never understood it, but now that she knew where it came from...

She could hardly help being mad at her father after he had told her why when she was _graduating_. Especially when he revealed her mother's role in the sealing. It had been bad enough her mother had died in childbirth, as she had been told previously.

Knowing that her mother had used her life to seal away the Kyuubi instead, when she would have probably survived the extraction, was even less pleasant a notion. All that in mind, if her new teacher was a stupid bigot, then she would have even more reason to be mad at the man she called _'Daddy'_.

She'd heard of the guy Iruka had named as her new teacher – he was one of those twin kiddie geniuses from the Uchiha clan – but she didn't really know much else about him. Meaning she didn't know if he was a bigot or not. And thus the reason for her nerves.

Lunch passed quickly, Ino and Tenten degenerating into a conversation about their teams; Tenten was jealous that Ino had been placed with the calm boys in their class (Sai and Shino), whilst Ino was complaining that she had been teamed up with them at all.

She certainly didn't complain about not being placed with Kiba and Shikamaru though; Naruko felt rather sorry for Tenten in that respect.

Ino was the first to be called away by her grim faced Hyuuga teacher, along with the rest of Team 9. Tenten was next, and Naruko watched her go into hero-worship mode when her pink-haired teacher arrived for Team 8.

After that it was just a matter of waiting for her own teacher to show up; Naruko occupied herself by pulling her headband from atop her head and poking the material across her desk, before putting back on again when her hair fell over her face.

She'd decided to stop using her kiddie hairstyle now that she was a Genin, but she had to keep her hair out of her face somehow. It was only practical, and she refused to cut her hair. Her hair was blonde, but it was the only thing in her that really resembled her mother – it fell exactly the same way as hers had in photos.

She wasn't going to cut it, and she didn't like ponytails. They interfered with her nervous habit of scratching the back of her head. Still, she had to be practical and keep it out of her way, hence the headband. She kinda missed her bunches though...

Her father had given her the orange piece of fabric for her forehead protector, but she'd spent the night using her chakra to engrave the metal of her belt buckle with the logo instead. Naruko loved her village, but she didn't love it enough to wear the thing on her forehead.

She knew too much about the dirty side of the village to love it that much; there were certain things she had learned to overhear being the Hokage's daughter. She had learned how to eavesdrop and gleam information from him without looking like it. Her father didn't know her well enough to notice anyway.

"Team 7?"

Naruko's head pricked up along with those of Choji and Lee as their number was called; glancing up towards the doorway, she caught sight of the man who had spoken. Then, something happened that she had never experienced before.

Standing in the doorway was their new Jonin teacher; A katana was attached to the back of his Jonin vest, and instead of the usual long sleeved jumper, he wore a short sleeved white zip-shirt with a high collar beneath his unusually black, un-zipped flack jacket. His trousers were tucked into mid-calf length open sandals.

Naruto didn't seen a kunai or shuriken pouch on his person, but the black wrist warmers he wore made her wonder; she'd bullied her father into giving her some storage tattoos for her last birthday, hence her arm warmers to hide them. They were much more efficient.

Getting them on the skin was a risky job though; they were a major task even for her dad, so he probably didn't have permanent ones. If he did have them, they would be on a bandage beneath those arm warmers. His clothing was not what caught her by surprise though.

What caught her attention were his eyes; she'd seen Uchihas before, but she'd never seen one with eyes that... dark? Expressive? He had a very disinterested look on his face, but... he was watching their every move, and it showed in his eyes. Her rational mind told her that it was just his internal assessment of them but...

Overall, he was a rather dark-appearing character; in combination with his dark hair and apathy, those eyes almost sent a chill down her spine.

For the very first time in her life, Naruko Namikaze felt her cheeks heating up into a light blush; she had a crush on her new teacher. One glance was all it took the blonde Genin to decide that she would one day marry Sasuke Uchiha, and she'd be _dammed_ if she didn't get her way.

If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous.

It was just his bad luck that the said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze.

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><p><strong><em>Wow. Just... Wow. I've been blown away by the response this has gotten! Not that I'm gonna complain. I'll just try to keep up whatever I did right in the first chapter :) Thank you for the support, seriously :D<em>**

**_To clear a few matters up, the error about sasuke and mikoto's ages had been corrected. As have a couple of other niggles. And there will be no cradle robbing - Naruko will be at the very least Sixteen before anything more than fluff happens._**

**_Song quote is from _'Rondo'_ by ON/OFF. _**  
><strong><em>VK fans should recognise it XD<em>**

**_Hope you like :)_**  
><strong><em>Nat.<em>**  
><strong><em>xxx<em>**


	3. Demon

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<br>**

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><p>

**- - Chapter Three - -**  
><strong>Demon<strong>

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><p><em>'I realise the screaming pain, hear it loud in my brain,<em>  
><em>but I'm going straight ahead with this scar'.<em>

* * *

><p>Sasuke eyed the three Genin clustered around the counter of Ichiraku's warily.<p>

After their test, he'd decided that if they were going to get along they needed a set day of the week to meet up, and there had been no point on beating about the bush. Not really frequenting the restaurants or snack bars much (if he went out it was to one of the bars – he cooked for himself, mostly from paranoia of poison), he'd left the choice of venue up to the three midgets.

Naruko had immediately started hopping up and down yelling the name of the local ramen vendor; he thanked god the two boys had agreed, otherwise she may have gone into a state of apoplexy. All said and done, he led them to the ramen stand with a positive outlook.

That was _before_ he realised how much the three of them could eat in one go individually.

Choji he knew would eat a fair amount, but he hadn't expected Lee to take that as a challenge and match him when the bowls were ordered. The one who struck the most fear into his pay-check, however, was the midget blonde Kunoichi; a tiny little girl was out-eating an _Akimichi!_ Hell, she was out eating both of - _no_ - all three of them put together!

"If you _demons_ have quite finished draining my wallet, would you care to share a few thing about yourselves? We're stuck together now, so we might as well get to know each other" he started as they finally left the small building, silently sending a prayer after his last pay-check and vowing to _never_ pay the whole tab ever again.

He directed the question to all of them, but his eyes were on Choji; thankfully he didn't have to give an example, but the boy did have a sensible question.

"Does it really matter? Won't we all find out stuff like that anyway since we're on the same team?" he asked.

"True, but head-starts are always helpful. That and knowing where your aiming for will help me when it comes to training you" Sasuke replied.

Choji seemed to accept this as a valid reasoning, and stopped eating the packed of Chocolate bites he'd started only seconds after leaving Ichiraku's.

"...Well, I like eating, and hanging out with Shikamaru and Ino, and training... and... uh..." Choji paused, and his eyes flickered once to his oddly calm female team-mate, before snapping back to the path in front of him resolutely.

"I don't like wasted food! I really hate that, but I hate being called stuff like _'fatso'_ even more! As for a goal... Well, not many of the ninjas in my clan ever get into the ANBU, so I'd like to do that but..." he stated moderately calmly.

Sasuke deemed that fairly reasonable; Choji seemed like a fairly reasonable kid from what he had already observed. He'd been the one to pick up on the real nature of the bell test first, and convince Lee and Naruko to join up (though the girl had been on track to doing the same too. _Lee_ however...).

The hesitation was a sign that he'd have some work to do on the kid's confidence, but Sasuke was fairly certain he'd be able to help at least one of his students achieve their goals. Or at the very minimum, get them on the right track. He didn't like Choji's look at Naruko when he paused in the midst of his likes though.

Give him kids with inferiority complexes, superiority complexes, god complexes, biological handicaps, and chakra demons, and he would do the best he could to help them work through such problems. Love however, was a _completely_ different kettle of fish.

Sasuke nodded to the boy, and then turned his gaze towards Lee; the boy was near hopping up and down in anticipation, and he immediately exploded into a very long flowery speech. For all his excessive wording, about all he said was he liked training, Gai, and wanted to show the disease in his chakra coils who was boss.

Apparently he disliked nothing.

That left Naruko; it was only when he settled his gaze on her that he realised her mood had turned from genial, to absolutely _foul_ in the few minuets it had been since they had left Ichiraku's. For the gods only knew what reason, she was the portrait of fury itself.

"Naruko-chan, it's your turn" Choji reminded her after several moments of silence.

Sasuke stopped them in the middle of the street, and gave her an expectant look; the blonde girl gave him a glare that put his father's to shame, not uttering a single word. It was a very calm glare, but just one look at her icy lapis eyes was enough to see she was anything _but_ calm.

It was scarily like the Hokage's.

He also noted the two boys had backed away from her a little and behind him, presumably away from some sort of danger zone. Sasuke filed that information away for later use (if they annoyed him, he might be able to use their fear in some kind of blackmail later), but his main focus was still on Naruko.

Apparently not enough though; the brief distraction the two boys had given him gave the little girl the moment she was waiting for. She not only ploughed her fist into his face, but she kicked his legs out from under him before crashing one of her feet into his vegetables, then disappeared in the blink of an eye.

In his defence, Sasuke had been distracted, and he had certainly not been expecting her to use her father's bloodline; hell, he didn't even know she'd managed to _activate_ the technique yet. It was a poor excuse, but when he was crumpled on the ground in sheer agony with a bleeding nose, and crushed testicles, it was the best he could come up with.

The little brat had once heck of a punch. What caught his attention most, however, was the yell she gave him before disappearing.

"You want to know shit about me? _Fine!_ I like ramen, I like my friends, gardening, training, and I want to restore my Mama's clan and re-stablish Uzushiogakure! What I hate the most are names like _'demon'_and fucking bigots like _you!_"

It took several moments to regain his composure – and several sympathetic comments from the two boys – but once he was back on his feet, Sasuke cursed in the back of his mind.

He hadn't even had the team more than twelve hours yet, and he'd _already_ done something wrong; he hadn't known she'd react so badly to one word generalised to all three of them, but hindsight always was a bitch. He really should have chosen his words more carefully...

"S-Sensei, did you say something to her? I've never seen her like that, except when Jiraiya-sama came to the academy for a day and was peeking on Hana-Sensei..." Choji stammered out as Sasuke dusted himself off.

"Not directly I don't think... Just out of curiosity, how long has she been using the Hiraishin?" he asked, turning to the two boys curiously.

"I don't know... I know she started with it pretty early, because I remember Hana-sensei telling her off for putting the seals for it down in the academy, and skipping lessons to put them over the village for a while but... I don't know her that well..." Choji replied; Sasuke pointedly ignored the slight droop in his voice towards the end of his sentence.

Lee said nothing; he was still stunned to stone by the actions of his team-mate. The boy seemed to have a fixed definition of _'girl'_, and Naruko had probably just smashed it up into tiny pieces. Most likely for a highly-numbered time.

"It's getting late; you two boys should head on home. I'll go find her... Remember to meet at the Hokage tower at eight-thirty tomorrow" Sasuke informed the two of them, before deliberately flickering away in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

><p>Following Naruko's chakra was not very hard, nor did it take him very long to track the rampant Kunoichi down. The trail of it ended in the playground of the academy. Specifically, trailing up the trunk of the swing-tree in the corner.<p>

Sasuke wasn't really certain as to how he would pacify the girl, but judging by the snuffling noised emerging from the branches he'd better hurry up. He hated crying more than his mother's persistent attempts to get him to settle down, and _that_ was saying something.

The snuffling stopped when the crunch of his footsteps stopped underneath the tree, then he felt her chakra flare up in what was presumably anger.

"Naruko, come out of the tree."

"Piss off you jerk-faced rat-bastard!" she snapped, her voice emerging through the darkness from the branches above his head; she also threw one of her boots at his head – he dodged that with a frown.

He understood being angry and all, but she'd been swearing _all day.._. It was one thing for a Kunoichi to take their job seriously (something which was a sadly rare thing), but was the language really _necessary?_ Maybe it was just because he'd had bad language forced out of him, but he _really_ didn't like the potty mouth on her...

"Naruko, get down here now" he grated, flaring his own chakra in the hopes it would intimidate her a little; it didn't.

"I'm sorry mister human – I cant tell what you're saying since I'm _obviously_ a freak of nature, and can't _possibly_ be smart enough to speak your language!" she hissed.

"Considering it was a comment directed to all three of you, I'd be willing to discuss that statement at greater length, but for the sake of the point your trying to make, I apologise. I didn't think you knew about the Kyuubi, but I should have thought that out more all the same" Sasuke replied, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice.

_'She is a _child_. She may have passed the test, but she is still a child. Of course she would be sensitive to words like that. She is reacting normally... She is a child...'_ Sasuke thought to himself, self-persuasively.

God, kids were so _annoying!_ He'd had enough of the ANBU though, and just being a Jonin didn't match the pay check he was used to. Jonin Sensei got a bonus for teaching a team of Genin, bringing their pay up to the amount received by the regular ANBU – and thus the reason he had even considered taking on a Genin team in the first place.

There was a moment of long silence, and then the sniffling began to dwindle in volume.

"...I'm sorry I kicked you in the goolies" was Naruko's muttered reply, but she still wasn't out of the tree.

"Aren't you coming _down_ then?" he asked irritably.

"No" came the blunt and pointed reply.

"And why not?" Sasuke demanded.

He'd avoided doing so before due to the sensitivity of the Kyuubi issue, but now she was just being a damn brat, and he was not very patient. He was sorely tempted to just drag her out of the tree by the hair now.

"Cuz I'm _not._ It's none of your _business_ why. Bugger off and leave me _alone_ Jerk-Face-Sensei!"

Sasuke twitched at the name she had given him, but cast the matter aside for now; flickering into the tree he picked her up by her waist and flickered back onto the ground; heading in the direction of the Hokage mansion, he tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of flour before picking up her boots.

"Put me down you asshole!" she yelled, kicking her bare feet rather pathetically and thumping his back with her hands; Sasuke ignored her and began trying to re-place her boots back on her feet with one hand.

"No – you're going home even if I have to drag you there. You can scream and rave there all you like, but I'm not being put on your father's blacklist because you threw a tantrum" Sasuke replied in an offhand manner – he was more concerned with the kicking of her legs than anything else. They made it impossible to get her boots back on her feet.

"Fuck off you jerk! What the hell do you know? Papa's not even there, cept to tell me _shit_ about that stupid parasite right before I fucking _graduate_, so why the hell's he going to care what I do? Stupid asshole, put me down and mind your own fucking beeswax!" she yelled, drawing a few odd looks from the villagers they passed, resuming her kicking and hammering with much more force.

Her words halted his footsteps for a moment, and he looked over his shoulder with narrowed eyes; her father had mentioned not being around much earlier, but apparently it was worse than he had first believed... Great, a potty-mouthed Jinchuriki Kunoichi with _daddy issues_. Absolutely damn _brilliant_.

It did explain why she had reacted so badly to his attempt at a nickname though; if she had only just been told about the Kyuubi she was bound to be edgy. It was only natural for a kid her age to freak out like that when given such alarming news, and if her dad was busy most of the time anyway...

It wasn't a good mix. Sasuke pondered this new headache for several moments, before a fail -safe idea occurred to him, and he changed his direction towards the Uchiha compound.

Sasuke had come to the (correct) conclusion that the girl had no significant parental role model, especially not a female one, and so he had rectified the problem. After one night in the presence of Mikoto Uchiha, Naruko Namikaze was noticeably less foul-mouthed the next day (not completely, but enough to be noticeable)

If asked why, she turned pale, and started muttering about soap and _'that crazy-ass woman'_ before stomping of to throw kunai and shuriken at a tree. After that, things continued as normal for any new Genin team.

That being said, Sasuke still chose his words a little more carefully for several months.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Behold! The mysterious art of the Update! To answer a couple of questions, No, there is'nt an Arranged marriage; Naruto's just a little girl who's got a crush. Very determined, a little obsessed, but overall simply just sweet-innocent-fluff. For now *cackle*<strong>_

_**There was a correction last chapter in Naruto's description - nothing too big, but thought I'd mention it. My thanks to those of you who been pointing these things out to me - I'm generally have terrible luck with Beta readers, so I only have my own proof-reading to go on, and I read things funny.**_

_**I skip some words before i read them, because i can already tell theyre ther before i get to them. My primary school teachers thought it was Dyslexia till i got tested because i'd not bother reading words out of my kiddie ABC books.**_

_**All this means that when correcting things, i miss a few things even with two spell-check engines, so I'm grateful t those of you who point these little things out to me :) *hug**hug**hug***_

_**There should be some action soon, as in actual battles, so look forward to that in the upcoming chapters. I've already decided on the first mission, and I will say right now that it will NOT be the Wave Mission.**_

_**Song quote is from 'Sign' by Flow. **_  
><em><strong>One of the better Shippuuden OPs :D<strong>_

_**Hope you like :)**_  
><em><strong>Nat.<strong>_  
><em><strong>xxx<strong>_


	4. Training

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<br>**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Four - -<strong>  
><strong>Training<strong>

* * *

><p><em>'You must be swift as the coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon,<em>  
><em>With all the strength of a raging fire; mysterious as the dark side of the moon'.<em>

* * *

><p>Naruko peeked around the corner of the sliding door to the courtyard outside, and by immediate location, the private training ground of the Uchiha clan head and his family.<p>

Sasuke-sensei (as she rarely called him, and only in her head) always seemed to prefer it to the general public training grounds most of the other Jonin used. Naruko didn't really mind - his brother was getting married to TenTen's teacher, so she got to see her friend more practising here.

Admittedly, his mother scared the crap out of her (Naruko had learned to curb her language choices tenfold compare since her first meeting with the woman), but she knew some really, really good infiltration techniques her Kunoichi instructor hadn't taught them, saying they were _'for graduates only'_.

Naruko usually didn't bother with _those_ techniques - for one thing she wasn't old enough for them to be of any effect yet - but it was better to learn sooner rather than later, and besides, Sasuke-sensei was fun to wind up. He was _cute_ flustered! If you could call a grown man cute...

There was another side to practising at Sasuke's home however, and that was that Mikoto-san had a lot of stories about her mother when they were growing up. They weren't the closest of friends (she knew her mother had been closer to Tsume Inuzuka and Yoshino Nara), but the stories meant a great deal to her.

Naruko watched with mild interest as she and Choji helped the woman de-stalk some strawberries as Sasuke helped Lee with his new Katas. He had been released from hospital after a very successfully operation, but couldn't use chakra just yet. Instead Sasuke was helping him get his physical skills back to their previous standards.

He was a bit grumpy, but he was a good teacher; he knew how to explain things, and how to correct mistakes in a way that suited each of her teammates. And his hair was so funny!

She sometimes turned him into a packhorse after their mission, claiming tiredness, and the back of his hair always felt soft and fuzzy on her cheek when he was carrying her. She could even be lulled into sleep if she was tired enough sometimes.

That being said, she wasn't incompetent. Maybe she had a bit of a big crush on her teacher, but she wasn't a slack off ! She worked hard to get the title of number one rookie, no matter what that damn Hyuuga bitch said! Urgh! _Hinata!_ She hated that girl so much! And her stupid _clan!_ They were the worst out of the whole village!

There was much of her father's work that bothered Naruko, but those pasty-eyed bastards were a definite pinnacle of it! She hadn't minded them so much before - she just thought they were snobs who lorded themselves over the village since the Uchiha Clan Incident. Now that she understood what the branch seals her father had been conned into making when he was a Jonin did, they utterly disgusted her!

She didn't care that those pasty eyed bastards all hated her guts - the joke would be on _them_ when she proved the whole village wrong - but putting seals like that on their own, and still having the guts to sneer with disgust at her? Bastards! The whole lot of them! And Hinata was the worst!

That was another reason she liked coming here instead of the normal training grounds - she didn't have to see her face when the training ground session ended! Plus there were more good spots for he Hirashin seals to be placed, meaning more practice with the technique. Her father had finally perfected it down to the use of no seals, and she'd rather get to the same level faster that go over her Illusions...

"Alright Lee, I think we'll stop there for the day. Remember what I said about training at home - _don't_. You don't want to put any more stress on your body than necessary just yet, and make sure to read those scrolls on basic chakra manipulation again. I know you covered it in the academy but it won't hurt you to look over it again. If you get stuck, ask Naruko or Choji if I'm not around"

"Yes Sensei! I will do my very best to nurture myself properly and avoid such activities that might hinder my steps to becoming an even greater ninja! I shall read all the books tonight, and should I fail, I shall read them all twice tomorrow as a penance!" Lee replied with his usual jovial-yet-flowery speech.

"Whatever makes you happy kid - just don't over do it. _Naruko_, I think it's about time we started ironing the cracks out of your Illusions - you've been neglecting them in your individual training time _again!_"

Naruko twitched, unable to deny the accusation. With a groan of frustration, she dropped her bowl of de-stemmed strawberries into Lee's hands, and took his place in training ground opposite her teacher. Her unenthusiastic approach to the subject matter amused him if the smirk was anything to go by, and she growled at him from the back of her throat.

"Alright, starting at the basics-"

"I already _know_ the basics!" she complained.

"Really? Then prove it; maintain an Illusion for longer than a minuet and I'll believe you" he shot back, quite calmly.

Naruko fought down the urge to curse at him; if Mikoto-san heard her... She shivered at the mouth-washing memory. No wonder her teacher was so polite if _that_ had been his punishment for bad language as a kid...

"Illusionary techniques are executed with hand seals and chakra like ninja techniques, but rather than physically attacking through a separate manifestation such as a nature release, Illusions manipulate the flow of chakra in the brain, and disrupt the five human senses" Naruto replied, very nearly parroting her explanation word for word from her old textbooks.

"Good - that's the essentials at any rate. The main part of executing an illusion is maintaining your chakra control at a stable rate. If you can't keep it even, you'll be disrupting your own work..." Sasuke broadened.

Naurko gave him a highly reluctant nod to show she was in fact listening; much as she hated the things, she did need to get better at her Illusions. The ones she made only _barely_ passed the academy standards... It made her so-called _'rookie of the year'_ title all the more laughable.

"...The second point is that attention to detail is key. Illusions affect any of the senses, or all of them at the same time, so if you don't pay attention to details, it won't fool anyone, and this is where you're slipping..." Sasuke replied pointedly.

Naruto forced back a grimace and nodded. She knew all that, but there was something about illusions that made her teeth grind. She simply didn't have the patience for it. She had the chakra control for it - she have vast chakra reserves, but she controlled them well damn it all with constant practice - but it was the details that always threw her.

There was always some detail that, when absent for long enough, began to make itself noticeable in her attempts. Things like shadows in visual illusions were a prime example. She _always_ forgot them! Every single damn time!

"First, I'll run you through a few general illusions, then well go down into the subtypes like sound, visual, and scent bases to see where your individual weaknesses and strengths are in each. After that, we'll start fixing those ghastly half-assed images you keep conjuring up..."

Naruko _cringed _at the tone in his voice; she could already tell this was going to be unpleasant.

* * *

><p>Naruko was not disappointed.<p>

Her training in illusions proved bad enough that Sasuke started her off at the beginning anyway. Chakra exercises were frequent, as was a lot of barking and snapping when she continually drizzled out of the basic illusion he was trying to teach her.

Eventually however it paid off, and she mastered a simple illusion which tricked the victim into seeing their team-mates dead or injured. Which led to her current predicament.

Naruko yelped as a unnaturally large fireball came whirling in her direction, and quickly dived behind a nearby bush via a replacement technique. Darting out into the trees that surrounded the private training ground, leaving a clone behind, and using a small illusion she had learned from the Pervy Hermit - originally for his peeping - to blend into the vegetation.

_"I'm going to attack you now, like any other enemy ninja would, and I make a few openings for you to try and cast that illusion you just learned in me in a battle setting" Sasuke said, after finally decreeing her competent in basic illusion creation._

Her clone had been left with orders to use the surrounding chakra and condense it into chains, and it did just that, as Naruko slipped around the back of her teacher as quietly as she could, leaving another clone in her wake for the inevitable moment when Sasuke would free himself from them.

_"Hell no! I'll stick you in that illusion fair and square! Test me properly Sensei!" Naruko protested, rather offended by the notion that he was going easy on her._

Her second clone darted forward with another technique she had been working on. After she had activated her mother's bloodline, her father had rewarded her by actually spending enough time with her to teach her his signature technique.

_Sasuke shrugged, not caring either way._

_"You asked for it Naruko. Just don't come crying to me when you can't do it" he said._

_Then he sent a team of lightning around the training ground, and she had to zip out of it to the house roof... before she got zapped by the newly crackled surface of the ground she had been standing on. He'd made the ground vomit lighting already!_

It was only part of the training process, but the first stage of the Rasengan still did damage when she added a little of her wind chakra to it. Preparing another clone, Naruto headed round to the other side of the training field after giving it the instructions it needed.

Naruko glared at him for starting so suddenly, gritting her teeth so she didn't swear - Mikoto-san had a point about it not being very attractive - before forming some hand seals of her own.

_"Just you watch! I'll bet ten bowls of ramen I can, and if not, I won't eat any ramen for a week!"_

_Then she disappeared, her godfathers favourite technique finally proving its worth as Sasuke sent his first fireball towards her._

Sasuke had dodged her Rasnegan-clone and disposed of it with a set of well placed kicks, and Naruko was ready for that. As soon as it had disappeared, she resumed the physical barrage, having succeeded in keeping him in line with the tracking seals she had placed down each time she left a clone behind.

_"Just remember that you said it, not me."_

All she needed was one hit to land the targeting seal on him, and she'd managed to hit him during their bell test! She could do it again! Once that was on, it would aid the trajectory of her clone's chakra, and make it even the small illusion she was testing on inescapable. At least she hoped it would...

Charging her hands with some coverings of slight wind chakra, she aimed for his gut; he dodged, grabbing her arm to fling her over his shoulder. As he did, she grasped her fingers against the side of his neck, and planted the seal.

Grabbing hold hard on his neck, she clamped her legs around his torso and pulled him down with her; it wasn't exactly a standard move, but if it worked, why complain? The second he was on the ground, Naruko heard the puff of smoke that came once her clone had cast the illusion.

Jumping off and heading a safe(ish) distance away with a ready kunai, Naruko watched with baited breath as Sasuke's Sharingan blared into life, removing the momentary hazy look from his face.

For a second, she thought she had messed it up again, but the tiny, curling smirk of approval appeared and she grinned as wide as she could. Whooping with delight, she punched the air with a howl of victory before clamping onto her teachers back as he passed (muttering glumly about his  
>wallet getting another diet).<p>

"I did it! _I did it!_ It worked Sensei! I actually did it for _real!_" she cried gleefully, her mood elating further when he hoisted her up to a better spot on his back himself, just level enough for her to get to the tickly spikes of hair at the nape of his neck naturally.

"By the skin of your teeth, yes. Congratulations. Choji! Lee! We're leaving for lunch! Get your stuff and hurry up!" Sasuke called out as he carried her through his parents house.

"I still did it, and you were Sharingan-ing me at the start too!"

"Yes, yes, the great Naruko Namikaze has proved her title of class rookie once again. Don't get a swelled head yet - we didn't go over detecting and breaking out of illusions yet. You're even worse at those parts..."

Naruto made a face, but quickly dropped it when Lee and Choji caught up with them as Sasuke ducked beneath the main doorway of his parent's home.

"My dad said he was going to help me with it..." she said quietly, not lying in the lightest.

He'd already promised to do it; during her first training session with him, he'd gone over everything with her, and since bad illusions skills seemed to be a family trait, he'd promised he'd teach her three ways to keep herself from getting stuck in illusions.

Sasuke grunted, and she snuggled her head amongst his hair, not noticing the roll of his eyes or the envious daggers being glared at her carrier by Choji.

* * *

><p>As they walked through the streets Sasuke smirked, trying to hold back his laughter at how pleased the girl was with herself. The fact that his Sharingan had been an illusion during the fight was predictably not something she had caught on to, but that was the whole point.<p>

From discussions with the other Jonin, Sasuke had quickly learned that some students preferred thinking their teacher was taking them through the learning process relevant to their level. Some preferred to work by themselves and simply ask for help when needed, then there were the kids like Naruko.

Through discussion with Sakura, Sasuke had quickly learned that the best way to deal with kids who had slight arrogance or stubbornness in their abilities, was to let them think they were managing, then pull the rug out from under them as Sakura had done with Kiba.

One day, Naruko would figure out that he was barley lifting a finger in reacting to her attacks, and that the Sharingan she was so gleeful of overcoming was in fact an illusion, and realise that her own were in fact, decidedly terrible.

Not only would it kick some humility into her and open her up to the idea of asking for help, but it would help sharpen her thinking process. She had a good brain, but there were a great number of things that escaped her in battle, things he would have expected a rookie of the year to notice, but he suspected it was the tameness of the missions and practice arena than lack of ability.

Just one cat-rescue mission would dull anyone's head.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ugh. I hate fight scenes. I've made resolution to keep them in this though, though so far I only know what's going to happen for the wave arc. I know I want a different Chunin exam too but... <strong>_***bangs head on screen and cries***

_**I hope it turned out alright. If this chapter seems off or something, my apologies. I just scoffed ten Cadbury orange crème easter cake bars. I know - I'm a glutton. Apparently it's time for the annual chocolate scoffage - I'm not especially fond of sweet food, so my stomach isn't in a good mood with me now. I don't care though - the HUNGER GAMES IS OUT IN THE UK TODAY! **_***Dances***

_**Who gets the brilliantly imaginative and wordy quote for this chapter is from? GUESS!**_  
><em><strong>TTFN XD<strong>_


	5. Mission: Part I

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<br>**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Five - -<br>Mission ~ Part I**

* * *

><p><em>'Everybody's waiting, everybody's watching,<br>even when you're sleeping; keep your eyes open._'

* * *

><p>"Alright, I think it's about time we sent Tora-chan back to Shijimi-san" Sasuke said, after two hours of entertaining a small ginger cat with his three brats.<p>

The three Genin shot him horrified, tearful looks filled with pity for the damn animal; since the first time they got this mission, the group of Genin had decided they would offer the animal a reprieve from its overbearing mistress.

Sasuke was all for proper treatment of pets, but it was cutting into his time for training them, as well as time that could be better spent on more practical missions. He quite liked his team - they had their heads in the right places for a bunch of kids - but damn it all, he was sick of watching them paint fences and rescue lost cats.

"But Sensei, Tora-chan surely must wish a few more hours of separation from the love her mistress sends her, love so fierce that it may serve her damage if left by herself! It would be unjust to return her so quickly when we have means and time to accompany her for some time yet!" his green-clad student cried.

Sasuke wondered when Lee was going to grow out of his flowery speech. It was interesting and all, but it was hardly easy to follow. But on the matter itself, they were more than ready for a C-Rank.

Not to mention Naruko was starting to get overly attached to the animal. Any longer and she'd probably kidnap the stupid feline. In fact, he was certain she and her team-mates were already plotting its _'rescue'_. He'd heard her talking to the thing when she thought no-one was watching, not referring to it as _'Tora-chan'_ but _'Kurama-kun'_ - that was not a good sign.

"If you want a C-Rank then we need to go to the hospital first, and take that cat back; so, would you rather look after Tora-chan, or would you rather get your immunisations and medical clearances for an external mission?" he asked in an offhand voice, as if it didn't bother him either way.

The three faces fell into expressions of torn commitments, but after a few glances between each other, Choji mumbled out _'Mission'_. It took far too long for them to make the decision though, and Sasuke was _not_ going to be babysitting cats for the rest of his Jonin career, They needed a C-Rank, soon. Very, very soon.

So, the teacher impervious to the woeful looks of his students and the forlorn cat, they trundled off to the tower to return the feline to the Daimyo's wife.

Sasuke did feel a small amount of sympathy for it when it was suffocated again though, and decided next time he might consider giving Shijimi-sama a fake dead one, and letting Naruko adopt it. No animal deserved that, even if it irritated him.

Afterwards, they set off for the hospital; aside from immunisations, there were poison antidotes to be administered. As well as few extra things for Naruko in particular. He'd get Anko to give them some extra antidotes too - she owed him a favour.

The route was halted by an enthusiastic reunion with Neji's team, the two blonde girls in particular, until Neji told Ino with two words to _'hurry up'_, and she scuttled off (apparently Neji believed in the scare-control method).

Then by a much less jovial encounter with Kakashi's team. It took barley a second for a thinly veiled insult to leave the Hyuuga girl's mouth, and not even that for Naruko to snap another back at her. If not for both girls being gently moved along by their instructors, an all out fight might have started.

Sasuke didn't know what it was about the Hyuuga that got on Naruko's nerves so much, but he'd find out one day. At the moment it was either a distraction or a motivator, depending on the moment.

He'd deal with it when if fell specifically into the hindrance category.

* * *

><p>Finally they reached the hospital.<p>

After handing the relevant paperwork to one of the nurses, the two boys were taken away by the nurses to their own examination rooms. Only Naruko seemed to have any problems. No matter how many times he shouted at the receptionist, she insisted that there were no female doctors free to do Naruko's health checks.

Considering he could see the empty rooms along the corridor (the doors open no less), Sasuke knew she was lying. He could feel her chakra quickening with her heart rate. A glance a her face as she gave Naruko a nasty, glaring smirk down her nose, and he very nearly electrocuted her on the spot.

Gods above, why didn't Naruko's father do something about these people? Oh yes. Political correctness, abuse of power, and all the shenaningans that went along with it. He couldn't exactly throw a civilian in jail for glaring at his daughter. Nor could he arrest any of the bigoted ninjas (from whom the civilians took their cues) for the same thing.

So naruto just had to put up with the glares - it still didn't seem fair, but aside from set a good example, there was hardly much he could do about it. Especially not with his own traitorous clan history. He could give it a try all the same though.

"Look, you _stupid_ excuse of a woman, I can _see_ the open examination rooms, and at least three unoccupied doctors are in the staff room on this floor. My old team-mate works here, and I make a point to memorise the rota, so why don't you try answering me again?" he hissed, unconsciously activating his bloodline as he glared at the receptionist.

She faltered for a moment, then turned her gaze to the blonde girl standing nervously behind him, trying with all her might to blend into the background.

"I'm sorry Uchiha-san, but this hospital doesn't cater to _her_ kind. I suggest you take her to the Inuzuka vets instead. Dogs are much closer in the gene-pool to foxes after all. I'm afraid our doctors wouldn't know where to start with something like _that_" she replied; Naruko flinched, and her hand clenched at the back of his vest, though to control temper or tears he wasn't sure.

Sasuke _seriously_ considered electrocuting the woman again; not only was she a _cow_ who needed to _die _painfully for _insulting_ his favourite student in front of him (and Sasuke was willing to admit that if he had a favourite, it would probably be Naruko - she was easier to teach), but she had just violated a well known law on discussion of the Kyuubi incident.

He should kill her where she stood; he was under oath of the Hokage after all... And she had broken the law. Even the _council_ would back him up; they were surprisingly very protective of their only biju container. He heard that aside form Danzou, the two elders were actually fairly nice to Naruko when they saw her, and if not that, at the very least professional.

"What's going on? Naruko, what are you doing here? Did you get food poisoning from your milk again?"

All three heads whipped around to see a pair of doctors heading towards them. One was his own ex-team mate and future sister Sakura, the other her mentor, Tsunade Senju herself. The head of the whole hospital, and founder of the new medical ninja law on team units that was due to passed this month (one that gave Sasuke a _huge_ headache since none of his students were really medic-nin material, and the new law demanded that at least one be trained on each new team).

"Hi baa-chan, Haruno-nee-chan..." Naruko greeted a little warily.

"Oh, it's nothing Tsunade-sama! I was just answering some questions Uchiha-san had, and we had a minor disagreement on some things was all-"

"_Excuse me?_ You refused my student basic, legally mandatory treatment in preparation for external missions, and violated the third law on the Kyuubi incident! I hardly think that qualifies as a _minor _disagreement you little b-"

Sasuke cut himself off before he started swearing, and instead, glared at the woman again, whose face was paling rapidly. Tsunade cast an eye over the situation, then sent a glare of her own to her receptionist.

"What exactly did Koizumi-san say, Uchiha-san?" she asked, her pink-haired assistant slowly taking Naruko by the hand and pulling her away from the building danger zone, a friendly look to the blonde girl and a dark one to the receptionist.

A glance after them, and Sasuke made a note to treat Sakura to large selection of Anmitsu later; any longer in the middle of that, and his surprisingly insecure Kunoichi would have been in tears if that expression on her face was the one he thought it was.

He then proceeded to repeat what the receptionist had said, and watched the darkening of Tsunade's expression. It reminded him that, while she was as busy as Naruko's father, she and Jiraiya _were _Naruko's godparents. He remembered getting check-ups in previous years from the woman for Orochimaru's _'treatments'_ when she was babysitting a baby Naruko, the girl strung to her back in a carrier quite happily.

"Get out of my hospital" she ordered menacingly.

"But Tsunade-sama, I was only-"

"I said _get out!_ And be thankful I don't report you to Hokage-sama for treason! I don't think he'd be quite so lenient as simply firing you if he heard you were verbally attacking _his daughter!_ " Tsunade roared; the woman soon disappeared.

Settling her temper, Tsunade turned to Naruko and Sakura (who looked as angry at her mentor) and completely changed her tune to blonde girl.

"Now then brat, you're here for you external mission treatments, is that right?" she asked.

"Uh... Yeah. I dunno when we're getting one but Sensei said pretty soon" Naruko replied, her tone a little jumpy - obviously she was still a little shaken up by the whole debacle.

" I see; now, I'd gladly take you myself, unfortunately there's a man with a nasty blood infecting technique who needs my attention, but Sakura can take you for them instead. How's that?" she asked.

Naruko glanced between him and Sakura apprehensively - Sakura sent him a mocking grin over the blonde girl's head as he felt a slap-on-the-forehead moment approaching.

"Come on Naruko-chan. I'll tell you a few stories about Sasuke from when we were Genin on the way to my office, like when I broke his nose!" the pink haired woman bribed cheerfully; to Sasuke's consternation, Naruko immediately turned to '_Haruno-nee-chan'_ and followed her down the hall.

He rubbed his temples in frustration, ignoring the amused look from Tsunade.

"You should hear her go on about you at the monthly meal Jiraiya and I have with her and Minato if you think that's bad - you'd think the sun rose by your command the way she jabbers about _'Sasuke-sensei'_" the blonde woman teased.

Sasuke pointedly ignored her comment.

"Thank you for the help; if you'll excuse me, Lee and Choji are probably done with their exams now, and I'll need to go get them... before Lee gets too excited even for Choji's patience..." he said, muttering he last part after he was walking away from the woman.

Choji and Lee were coming out of their own exams looking relieved on Lee's part (unsurprising given he had yet to get official clearance on using his new chakra in a mission), and general nonchalance from Choji.

Both of their separate examiners gave him some paperwork to hand in to the main mission office, and then they headed along the corridors and up a flight of stair's to Sakura's office. The pink haired girl was talking in the hall with his blonde student, who was rubbing her upper arm with a wincing expression no doubt from her injection.

"Ah, there you are Sasuke; here's the paperwork. You should get it in quick - this stuff always takes a few days to process, but I'll send word along and have your team moved up the list" Sakura said, catching sight of him and approaching.

"...you might want to talk to Naruko; that woman really upset her earlier, she only just calmed down" she added in a very quiet voice that neither of his other Genin noticed.

Lee was teasing Naruko about her red-eyes from the injections, and though Choji was grinning along with him, he did have a contemplative look about him. Damn it all, he was going to have to stop this puppy love if he could.

Love amongst teammates usually caused arguments. He should know - though not a victim himself, Itachi had gotten jealous because he was on good terms with Sakura. Not deliberately of course, Sasuke wasn't that cruel, but... It would be so much easier later if things stayed platonic.

"Shut up Lee! I had to get more than you did! There were, like, fifty of the damn things!" Naruko protested, taking on Lee's jokes as her own flawless excuse for her presumed crying.

"Really? That's strange Naruko-chan; did we not receive the same treatments? Perhaps you needed a higher dosage?" Lee asked curiously.

"No, but... Well, I'm a _girl_. They give us extra inoculations so we don't get... you know, _pregnant_ or something. And they put a medical technique on us that helps keep... You know, sick creeps off too; it needs loads of injections. I have to come back for more tomorrow too..." Naruko replied a little awkwardly.

Lee's mouth made a wide _'Oh...'_ shape, and Choji turned a little pale; though from the subject matter or the thought of more injections Sasuke couldn't quite be sure. In either case, the atmosphere between the three kids was awkward, and he could feel the internal, teacherly concern sense blaring at him to intervene.

Ugh. These damn kids were making him _soft_, weren't they?

"Well, I guess that's us done. We'll drop these in at the office, head to Ichiraku's, and then you three can head home for the day" Sasuke said, following the intervening instinct with a glance to Sakura - he'd talk to the blonde girl on the way back from Ichiraku's.

Sakura let out a relieved sigh, then waved at Naruko as they set off.

"See you tomorrow Naruko-chan" she smiled.

"Bye Sakura-nee-chan" Naruko replied, a smile perking on her lips for a moment before she drooped again; Sasuke noted the change of address, and internally smiled.

Another good role model for the brattiest brat was always a good thing

* * *

><p>The journey to the office wasn't long, and neither was the stay at Ichiraku's; Naruto seemed to have forgotten that he still owed her ten bowls of ramen (he hadn't had enough change the other day for more than one each), though thankfully this escaped the attention of her teammates.<p>

Or at least, they simply thought it was because the extra injections.

After walking Choji back to his clan compound, and Lee back to Gai's, he finally had the chance needed to talk his blonde student out of her gloom. To her wide-eyed surprise, he turned his back to her, knelt down onto be knee, and held his arms out behind them.

He would have to be stupid not to notice how much she liked getting a piggy-back. He wondered if being turned into a child's teddy-bear was some kind of insult, but he shrugged it aside when the little girl clamped her arms onto his shoulders and hitched her legs up above his hips.

Grasping her legs and hoisting her a little further up his back, he felt her head seeking out his air and fought a roll of his eyes. Kids were so easily pleased. He just hoped the voluntary comfort was going to be something to get her out of her slump.

He got a few looks as he walked down the streets of Konoha, mainly from civilians and intellectually backward ninja, and a quick glare back at them soon had the gits looking the other way. Finally, when they were heading down a side street that would be a quieter route to the Hokage mansion, and he wondered how he was supposed to broach the subject.

"D-Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, awkwardly.

There was a pause before the blonde girl mumbled into his shoulder, just loud enough for him to hear over his footsteps, the dim buzz of insects in the trees, and the distant hum of the central village.

"I didn't think she'd say something – no-one's _ever_ said anything like that before. Not once; they just gave me this _look_ like I'm dirt. Most of the ninja just ignore me, but a few hate my guts, and civilians follow their lead. It's not like Dad can punish them for having an opinion when they've never attacked me or anything either, but no-one ever said something like that before now..." she mumbled, tightening her hold around him.

Sasuke gave a short grunt of response; he didn't really know what to do in this situation. Though he supposed... Maybe if he stretched his words a bit...?

"You know it's probably not the same, but after my clan elders were executed for the coup they were planning, there were a lot of people in the village who didn't like the Uchiha clan. I was in the ANBU then, but I wasn't really on a team... No one wanted me and my brother, even if we weren't part of the plot, but that isn't the case now..."

"You're right - it's not the same..." Naruko sniffed; he could sense she had something to ask though, so he refrained from commenting.

"...but, they hated you right? My dad told me that after your clan was reintegrated into the village, people started accepting the Uchihas again but... It wasn't just that was it? You had to do something as well right? _What?_ How'd you get them to like you again?"

Sasuke smiled to himself; she'd perked up a bit, no longer mumbling into his shoulder; the Hokage mansion was up ahead now, and Sasuke picked up his pace a little.

"...it wasn't a case of doing anything in particular really. I just did my job as an ANBU, like the rest of the Uchihas who hadn't been part of the coup, and eventually people began to accept us again. They realised that we weren't a threat by themselves" he shrugged.

"That's _it?_ You just did your job?" Naruko asked, sounding unconvinced.

"That's it" he replied, opening the gate and heading up the pathway to the front door of her home.

Hoisting her off his shoulders, he crouched down I front of her so she was at his eye level, and impulsively flicked her forehead the way his brother did when they were kids. It annoyed him enough to jerk him out of his worries; hopefully it would do the same for the brat.

"_Ouch!_ What-"

Sasuke took hold of her cheeks and pulled them upwards, pinching them a little and pulling them so her lips formed a cheesy, if slightly gummy and toothy, grin.

"No more of this frowning and blubbering; you're tougher than that aren't you? I don't know what got to you today, but just ignore it like you usually do. I know ignorance doesn't make everything go away, but in this case it _does_. Forget about it, focus on what you want, and one day those glares will have disappeared" he ordered, before finally releasing her cheeks.

Naruto glared at him, then pretended to pull her face up into a grin the same way he had just pulled it, only with a little less and a more natural smile than the garish one he'd produced.

"Like this?" she asked; Sasuke gave her a soft smirk and riffled her hair.

"_That's_ my girl."

He couldn't resist teasing her a little; it was too fun winding her up. Besides, it would distract her from the gloom. Her face lit up red like a tomato, and she tried to stutter something out, but didn't quite manage it.

Instead she bit her lip for a moment, then flung her arms around his knock again, causing him to loose his balance and fall onto his backside. Rolling his eyes, he returned the hug for a few moments, then realised he was being too soft. Or at least, too soft if he ever wanted to keep a decent level of authority over the midget before she got a Jonin rank of her own.

"Alright, alright, I get it, _I get it_, just get off me you little brat!" he replied, his tone more embarrassed than harsh.

Naruko grinned as he pushed her off, stud up and dusted himself down.

"You have a few days to yourself to let the injections settle in your system, so I won't see you till next week when we go to get a decent mission. Until then..."

Sasuke bent down in front of her, hands on his hips and but on his most serious, no-failure-allowed, intimidation for kids face.

"..._practice your Illusions!_ They're an absolute _disgrace_ for the rookie of the year! You should be _ashamed_ of yourself! And you're a _girl_ - your supposed to have better chakra control than boys by your _biology_, but _Lee_ is better than you, and he's only just started using his! Fix them damn it all!"

He couldn't help the rant; her illusions were absolutely terrible. How she'd passed the academy standards was a mystery to him. He'd drill them into her head himself, but she seemed pretty set on getting her father to teach her, and frankly, Sasuke thought the man would do well by himself spending some time with his daughter for once.

Naruko paled blurted a very insistent set of promises to practice over the next few days, and with them, he turned and head back in the direction of the flat he shared with his brother, certain of one thing only...

The gloomy overhanging notion that these kids were going to turn him into a marshmallow one day.

* * *

><p><strong><em>I know this doesn't seem like it has any significance, but there are things in this chapter that will be important for the sign-up for a C-Rank. Promise. Some things will also come to play up in the Chunin Exams. Had to get some fluff in though. XD<em>**

**_As for Hinata... Well, she's not going to be Naruko's best friend, but she won't be hated forever, she has her own reasons for disliking Naruko too. Sasuke's actually mentioned it here unwittingly, but it won't become clear for some time. Why? _FORESHADOWING!**

**_Anyways, the real mission stuff should start next chapter. There will also be Naruko/Minato interaction._**

**_The quote in the last chapter was from _'I'll Make A Man Out Of You'_ from Disney's Mulan. This time, from _'Eyes Open'_ by Taylor Swift. Got if off the Hnger Games soundtrack. I have yet to see it though _*cries*_ all quotes in the chapters regarding the mission will have a quote from the song, because it is amazing and everyone should buy it._**

**_Hope you liked the chapter :)  
>Nat.<br>xxx_**


	6. Mission: Part II

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<br>**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Six - -<br>Mission ~ Part II**

* * *

><p><em>'Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown, everybody's watching to see the fallout, <em>  
><em>even when you're sleeping; keep your eyes open'<em>

* * *

><p>Arriving at the tower on the arranged date, Sasuke eyed his team with a speculative look, observing their reactions to the news he had given them about applying for their first C-Rank.<p>

Choji and lee were hopping up and down with excitement. Well, Lee was; Choji was chomping on a mega-sized packet of crisps with frightening speed though, a clear sign that he was building up his energy in preparation. They were both clearly excited.

_Naruko_ on the other hand...

Well, she continued to be a problem child. She was no longer gloomy, but she was quiet, a sign of her nerves playing up again. The nerves themselves didn't bother him, but rather the subject on which they were based.

She was nervous about something that shouldn't have been a problem; she was the top rookie, a title generally given to the graduate most likely to achieve Chunin rank first by the academy tutors. She had been the loudest about getting a C-Rank too...

So what on earth was wrong with her _now?_

He thought it might have something to do with seeing her father at work, but just that wouldn't be enough to make her nervous. She was probably used to it. Pissed off? Equally probable, but not nervous.

Anger made her more confident; it was half the reason he always goaded her temper when training individually. It got better results when she thought she had something to prove, made her use her brain more creatively.

There was something he was missing here, and he'd bet anything it was something he should likely know about. Oh well, he had a whole mission to figure it out in. He'd just have to hope it didn't prove a hindrance during it.

They entered the mission room right on schedule; the Hokage was just picking his mission request form when they all entered the room. The man looked a little apprehensive when he glanced at his daughter, and Sasuke felt another headache heading his way when Naruko pointedly ignored him.

"Sasuke, you've put down here a request to move into C-Rank missions... Are you sure your team is ready for them?" the Hokage asked, his eyes going over a latest in monthly training reports for the three brats.

"Yes sir; their training has progressed well, and they have a good sense of teamwork from rescuing Tora-chan every other day. Any more D-Ranks would be a waste of their talents now" he replied honestly.

"You've already said as such in your reports, but that's not what I meant; I raised some concerns with you before..."

Sasuke watched Naruko's eyes narrow on her father.

"I don't believe they'll be an issue sir, and frankly I think it would do them good to get out of the village for a while" he insisted, hoping to avoid the building explosion that was his female Genin.

"Still, I'm not certain your reports of their training are enough to warrant a mission rank change. Maybe a couple more weeks and then-"

"_Daaaaaad!_ I told you what our training was like two weeks ago! Just give us a C-Rank already!" Naruko blustered impatiently; her father gave her a look, and she stilled a little, before rephrasing her complaint.

"...I mean, we've been training everyday for _three months_ besides daily D-Ranks. We believe that we're more than ready for a C-Rank, Hokage-sama" she muttered, clearly displeased with the apparent need for formality.

Her father chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment.

"I have to admit, My concerns about this aren't solely professional - I'd rather you not be on any C-Ranks yet Naruko" he admitted; Naruko hissed indignatly.

"Oh, so I'm your daughter again? I thought I was supposed to be a Kunoichi a second ago!" she said snarkily.

"Exactly - you're a Kunoichi, but you're my daughter, your _Mother's_ daughter. With politics as they are at the moment, you're a lucrative target for-"

"What? Politics? That's a lame ass excuse and you know it! There's never any good time in politics! You just don't think I'm good enough! You can't make any judgements about my training when you don't even care about it!" Naruko snarled, the air around her taking on a prickling sensation.

Her father stared at her with genuine remorse.

"I'm the Hokage. I have responsibilities here Naruko; I'm sorry I didn't show up yesterday, but-"

"And I'm Naruko Namikaze, perhaps that name rings a bell with you? I'm your _daughter!_ You have responsibilities for me too! More than some stupid _job!_ I shouldn't have to need an official appointment to see you for more than ten minuets a week!" she stormed angrily.

With those final words, she turned on her heel and stomped towards the door.

"Naruko-chan, wait! Where are you going?" Choji asked, looking rather pale and worried as he took a few steps after her.

"Sorry Choji, but I'm going home. You and Lee worked really hard, and I doubt that as long as I'm here you're going to get a fair chance at a C-Rank" she replied, a little shortly, but Sasuke applauded her attempt to control her temper (around her Teammates at least).

"Naruko! You wait here one minuet young lady-"  
>"I'm sorry for interrupting you meeting with Team 7, <em>Hokage-sama<em>" Naruko spat, forcing out the title with enough venom to make her father wince along with the others in the room.

Then she slammed the door behind her, and the only trace of her presence were the ethos of stomped feet as she headed down the hall.

* * *

><p>Silence reigned throughout the room as the Hokage slumped in his chair with a weary sigh.<p>

He stared out of the window, and Sasuke followed his gaze to the blonde girl stomping angrily down the street, the villagers clearing way warily as she approached.

"Sir, if you'd rather we came back at another date..." Sasuke ventured, unsure of what to do in this situation.

"No, she's right... I wasn't giving you a fair evaluation because I was too... Well, worried about things that are my own fault. Your team is more than ready for a C-Rank. The best set yet in fact. I have a scroll that needs transporting to the mines in the south-west of Fire Country. There will be a woman accompanying you too. Aoba?"

One of the office assistants went to a door through which Sasuke knew to be the mission vault for such objects. He returned with an average order scroll wrapped in blue cloth. Then he went to one of the side rooms and returned with a dark haired woman dressed in a short, sleeveless green yukata and a dark brown skirt and similar hued boots.

"This is Karui-san. She'll be accompanying you to the mines to negotiate on our behalf with Lightning country on some matters over mine ownership. She personally requested you actually, so please treat her well. She's a valued client after all..." the Hokage said introducing the woman.

Sasuke barley gave her a glance, but Choji and Lee both wore a gob-smacked, besotted expression as they took in her... assets.

"It's good to meet you Uchiha-san" she greeted with a minuscule but still with an obvious flutter of her lashes, bending so low in her bow that Sasuke had to wonder if his two ninja still in the room were going to die from lack of oxygen to the brain.

"Likewise" Sasuke grunted.

He never trusted a woman who looked good. Especially the flirty ones. He'd had a fan girl like that from the academy days that he'd very nearly dated when she grew up a bit. She turned to be a life long Amegakure plant, who had nearly killed him with poison.

She was the reason he made his own food now, actually.

"If you're ready to leave, we can start off for the mines within the hour once my team have had time to pack some proper things for a long mission" he said to the woman, really meaning that he had to talk Naruko out of her rage.

She carried lightweight but necessary things for long missions in her sealing tattoos, so she wouldn't take much else. A sleeping bag and her tent would probably be it... But only if he could get her to calm down ...

"That would be prefect Uchiha-san" Karui smiled.

Recognising the look, Sasuke mourned for his hopes of a peaceful mission; for some reason, he had a very bad feeling about this whole thing.

* * *

><p>Naruko Namikaze was beginning to wonder if this was her Cursed Week of Doom that had been rumoured about in the academy.<p>

She remembered that cow Hinata telling her about it, when she didn't mind her so much. It was supposed to be the worst week an individual could have in the history of bad weeks, when everything that could go wrong, would go wrong.

First that bitch in the hospital mad her cry like a baby in front of Sakura-nee-chan, then her dad bailed out of training her at all (meaning she still sucked at illusions and shouldn't even _be_ on this mission), then that fiasco in the mission office, and now that... that...

That damn _bitch_ with her oversized tits was hanging off _her_ Sensei like a hag while her idiot teammates stared at her and hung onto her every word with _googly-eyes!_ What the hell? Why was she was tripping up over everything too? And why did Sasuke have to be nice to her? And why were her boobs so fucking _big?_ They were almost as big as her Baa-chan's!

Naruko glanced down at her own, rather flat chest, remembering what Hana-sensei had told them during their seduction training in the Kunoichi classes. She'd said since boob-size was kinda genetic, they have to concentrate on different ways to make their body appealing when they were older, and recommended a couple of training scroll in the communal archives for when that time came.

Naruko also remembered a picture of her mother; she didn't have very big boobs. Did that mean she wouldn't either? She glanced at the brunette woman again, just as she stumbled and her giant chest brushed against Sasuke's arm as he helped her get her balance back.

For a moment, Naruko had to remind herself that stabbing the _harpy_ in the back with a kunai would not reflect well on the village. It was hard, but she ignored the murderous urges, and continued to glare at their brunette client as she had done since leaving Konoha instead.

It wasn't just her sickening flirting with her teacher that she found so dislikable though; she didn't really know _what_ it was actually, but there was something that made her wary of the woman. She just felt like she was lying about something.

Naruko had grown up with double-faced villagers singing her praises when her father was around and glaring at her when he wasn't; she could practically _smell_ liars, and this bitch was seriously overdoing the flirting. By amounts that set off alarm bells in her head; there was something she wasn't telling them, but she couldn't just blurt it out, now could she?

_'Just keep an eye on her whelp. Watch and wait... She'll slip up eventually, and then you can smack her around all you want with out fear of recompense.'_

Naruko blinked at the sudden seed of wisdom from her internal prisoner; he had warmed up to her significantly when, during a training session that had wiped her out and allowed their first meeting, she had asked if _'Kyuubi'_ was his real name (_'cuz if it is, then the thing that named you really didn't have much imagination...'_).

_'Huh? What's recompense?'_ she asked.

_'It means you won't get into trouble for kicking the shit out of her'_ he clarified.

Ah. That made more sense, plus it made good advice. Naruko decided to follow it, and continued to glare at the bitch hanging off her teacher's arm and corrupting her teammates with her oversized boobs until they stopped for the night.  
>Then she just glared some more till the woman got a bit weirded out, and retreated to her tent.<p>

Naruko, _one._ Bitch, _zero._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Heh heh heh. And so it begins! I hope you picked up te subtle hints that Naruko had started conversing with the Kyuubi last chapter (remember that Sasuke has no way of knowing the Kyuubi even has a name), and I never said the development with Minato would be good <em>*cackle***

**_Sorry for the slow update - I was on holiday in the Lake District and... Well, my uncle's house doesn't have a toilet that flushes properly _*twitch*_ Let that tell you what the internet availability was like._**

**_Song quote is once again from _'Eyes Open'_ by Taylor Swift. I've FINALLY seen the Hunger Games! Loved it, though I think it would have been more effective as a Fifteen - they could have jacked up the blood then, which I think would have made it even better. IMO at least._**

**_Hope you enjoyed the chapter :)  
>Nat.<br>xxx_**


	7. Mission: Part III

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<br>**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Seven - -<br>****Mission ~ Part III**

* * *

><p><em>'So here you are; two steps ahead, and staying on guard.<br>__Every lesson forms a new scar; they never thought you'd make it this far'._

* * *

><p>"Sasuke-San, would you like some?"<p>

Naruko twitched, and glared at their companion.

"No thank you - I don't eat anything I haven't made myself. I appreciate the offer though Karui-san."

Naruko let out a sigh of relief, but kept on glaring at the woman for daring to address her teacher by his first name. What a rude woman! She didn't even know him and she'd been hanging of him like a pig on spit for the past week! Mikoto-san would absolutely hate her!

_'Oh yes, because your manners are so much better, aren't they? How many times has she scrubbed your mouth out now little-miss-perfect?'_

_'Shut it Kurama.'_

Here they were finally on a C-Rank, finally given the chance to prove their worth, and those oversized tits and the bitch attached to them were ruining it for her!

"Naruko-chan, why do you keep glaring at Karui-san? She's really nice, and her food is really good!" Choji asked in a quiet murmur around a mouthful of beef stew the bitch had prepared.

"I too wonder what the lovely Karui-san has done to earn your displeasure Naruko-chan" Lee added around his own mouthful.

Naruko bristled under their questioning but said nothing. She counted to five for a moment, then took a deep breath - it was a method Mikoto-san had taught her to control her blustery temper. It was a hmiss method method, but this time it worked.

"I just don't think it's very professional to get so attached to a client" she lied; like hell she was going to tell them the real reason she was pissed off.

"But we're supposed to be nice to her!" Choji countered persistently.

"Yeah, _nice_, not hang onto her every stinking word. She's not coming home with us you know. She's a client, a capital investment for the village. You're being paid for your defence services, not simpering" she snipped.

Getting to her feet, she ignored the surprised looks on the face of her team-mates, and marched over to her teacher where he was seated beside the beloved Karui-san.

"Sensei, I'm going to bed. If you wake me when you and the others go to bed I'll take the first watch" she said calmly, ignoring the blonde woman's overly friendly smile at her.

Sasuke gave her a curious look, but nodded.

"Alright, I'll wake you up later. Goodnight" he shrugged.

"Goodnight Naruko-chan, are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" the woman asked, supposedley sounding concerned; of course, she wouldn't want a precious student of_ 'Sasuke-san'_ to go hungry right in front of him.

"I'm not hungry" she replied tersely, stomping off towards her tent.

* * *

><p><em>'You have a temper problem.'<em>

"Shut it" Naruko muttered.

She could have replied to the Kyuubi inside her head, but no-one was around to give her funny looks, so why waste the energy? It was easier talking aloud.

She was seated by a lake that formed close to their camp, a pile of stones beside her; throwing them in helped cool her temper down, and she would need a cool head to put up with the woman they were escorting to the mines, and then to her home-towns again tomorrow.

_'You come off as quite the spoilt child actually. It's rather amusing to watch. Your mother was just the same - I guess the saying that apples don't fall far from the tree isn't that unfounded in your case'._

"I said shut it you overgrown furball!" Naruko snapped, managing to keep her voice down with some effort. Seconds later, she heard a rustle of movement from the tents. Judging by the sound, it was her teacher.

A few more seconds, and she was proven correct when he ruffled her hair in greeting.

"What's with the attitude today? Is this about your dad?" he asked, sitting down beside her; Naruko didn't answer, and instead threw another halfhearted pebble into the water.

"I don't think he means it. Not _intentionally_..."

Naruko pretended to take that piece of comforting talk to heart - to be honest, she was past caring what her dad said or did. She had pretty much expected him to throw up his arms about something that morning. She had to improve her mood if she didn't want him to know the real reason for her anger though.

"I know he doesn't. That just makes it worse though."

"Well, just try not to take it out on Choji and Lee will you? They were worried, especially Choji. He was _really_ worried. They're your team-mates, so try to avoid upsetting them along with you, for my sanity if nothing else..." he asked.

Naruko grimaced; she remembered her teammates going up to him and asking if one of them should check on her when she had gone into her tent. It had made her a little guilty actually. Especially Choji - he was always really nice. She sometimes thought he was _too_ nice to be a ninja. Or maybe it was just her.

"I'll talk to them tomorrow" she promised - thinking about it, she'd been acting like a foul bitch all day. No wonder they were asking questions.

"Do that, and try to be nicer to Karui-san too. I know you're trying to be professional, but acting like you are is just going to have the opposite effect..." he sighed.

Naruko grunted in response.

"Good - now go get some sl-"

They were cut off by the sound of fighting and shrieks coming from the camp a few yards back.

* * *

><p>Grabbing her teacher's wrist, Naruko concentrated on the seat that she had surrounded the campsite with once they had stopped for the night.<p>

After their first team mission in the village, Sasuke had gone over the routines for protecting a base camp, and shown them how to build it to accommodate their skills if need for a fight arose. That didn't make much difference for Lee, but for Choji it meant there was more space between tents for his nikudan sensha.

For her it meant covering the ground with as many 24 hour Hiraishin seals as she could. She'd never carried two people before, but what point was there to waiting? Concentrating with all her might, she transported them to one of the seal in the middle of camp, and very nearly had to sit done for a moment, but time was not a luxury at that moment.

A large group of bandits had descended on the camp; Choji was engaged with one in a sharp battle of kunai against a short sword.

The larger boy ducked and dodged as the sword swiped through the air, managing to stay out of range long enough to lead him towards a tree route that protruded from the earth. The bandit tripped, and Choji struck with his kunai with a inking crack through the man's skull and into his brain.

As Naruko barged into the fight herself, taking on another bandit with a clone for good measure, she watched Lee as he blurred through the mass of attackers. Just because his chakra had been trained didn't mean he had to use it.

Whatever Gai had taught him had been very effective from the looks of things; he kicked. He punched amidst flowery speeches about _'youthful slumber'_ and their _'foul desecration'_ of it.

He didn't kill anyone like Choji did though; it was scary to see the usually kind boy attacking so mercilessly. It was one thing for Sensei to do it since he used to be ANBU - the _opposite_ was unusual there - but Choji?

Sweet, kind Choji, who wouldn't hurt a fly even if you called him fat anymore (Sasuke had said something about just proving people right by reacting as he did during training once), was killing people. He was just barging through them with a pair of kunai slicing throats open!

It was worrying, but she couldn't afford to think about it too much; knocking the man she had been fighting out, Naruko quickly turned in search of another opponent. She thought she heard someone yelling angrily, but a scream cut her off mid thought.

Glancing around rapidly, she found one of the bandits heading off with a struggling captive; Naruko rolled her eyes seeing the dark hair of Karui-san bobbing on the shoulder of a bandit who was heading away from the camp, and quickly gave pursuit; stupid woman couldn't even stay away from the fight or hide without being told!

Barging through the remaining attackers, she darted behind the runner as he fled into the woods. He didn't take to the trees though; Naruko, like any Konoha academy student, had been encouraged to play amongst the tree branches as a child.

It was a subliminal preparation for he high peed tree running that made Konoha ninja so dangerous in the leaves they named from. As such, it was fairly simple for her - a mere _Genin_ - to catch up with the man.

Throwing Karui-san onto the ground unconscious, he lunged at her with his short sword. Summoning a pair of kunai form the seals on her wrists hidden by her arm-warmers, she blocked it before it could split her in half with a basic x-shaped block.

Pushing him back, she lunged after him while he was still off guard. One of her kunai lodged into his gut, and he let out a gasp of horror, before smirking at her.

She was still carried by the momentum of her lunge, so when the clone dispelled, she fell onto the ground in shock with a sharp thud. The smoke filled her nostrils and she felt heavy. Poison, or anaesthetic of some kind. Bugger. Bugger. Crap. Bugger!

Staring up at the bandit she growled as his disguise dropped, and a Kumogakure ninja with a lollipop in his mouth took her place. Lashing out she did everything that came to mind even as her limbs slowly started feeling lethargic.

The first punch hit his nose soundly, as she was quite pleased to see a river of blood spurting from his broken nose. As he recoiled in shock, she head-butted him in the goolies, and he fell onto the ground with a yelp.

_'For the sake of my entertainment, if nothing else, hurry up and stick a kunai in his gut before you collapse you little idiot. Being my host will grand you a certain immunity to poisons an anaesthetics, but it isn't that good. I'm not that fly Chomei - if you don't do him some injury soon you'll be Kumogakure's new pet!'_ the Kyuubi snarled.

Naruko would have loved to punch the know-it-all fox, but she had other problems. Such as her chakra; whatever had been in that smoke had shut off most of her own chakra. She couldn't get her kunai out of the sealing tattoos! Now she knew why her dad had a regular holster.

No chakra, and no weapons. That left her with brawling. Bugger bugger bugger.

_'You could always use my chakra'_ the Kurama suggested in a power induced, seductive sort of tone.

"Piss off with your stupid comments - they are not helping!" Naruko snapped, not caring that the ninja was giving her an odd look.

_'Just making you're aware of your options whelp'._

"Stop calling me that!" Naruko snapped, lunging at the alarmed Kumogakure Genin; he obviously though she was one of the crazy ninjas.

Good - no one wanted to fight a crazy ninja. They were essentially axe-murderes with an excuse, and nne of their sanity. Maybe he'd back off if she could stay up long enough.

Focusing on putting her energy into her attack helped her keep it up. She was more agile than the Kumo ninja, but he was stronger and bigger he blocked her attacks, and had a vey strong foot base, so she found it hard to knock him down long enough to knock out.

The drug in the smoke worked faster as attacking rushed it through the blood on her body, and her attacks eventually grew pathetic enough for him to simply block them with one hand.

_'Fucking Illusions! Sensei's going to kill me hen he finds out I got duped twice in a row!'_ Naruko thought savagely as she fell back drowsily, and he melted out of existence, before walking back above her, his face completely unblemished.

He hoisted her up onto his shoulder as she mumbled curses in him and promised to cut his balls off as soon as her chair came back. Slung sleepily on his shoulder, she did the only last thing left to her. She let a small trickle of the cubic chakra into her system;

It didn't purge the drug, but it did elongate her teeth, and she used them to bite his ear off before she fell unconscious.

* * *

><p>Sasuke gasped for breath as the final bandit fell dead to his feet with a snapped neck. He hadn't particularly been trying to kill the man, but these bandits were unexpectedly strong.<p>

Too strong - far too strong for bandits. That was likely because they were not bandits; the illusion had been fairly obvious; even his _Genin_ had seen through it, and to be frank, none of them were that skilled with illusions except Lee.

Living so long with a disrupted chakra network, he'd had to learn how to train himself to recognise them without it in the academy as well as breaking them, so he had a very good handle on them now that he actually had chakra, even if he hadn't been so great with them before.

As it faded, on the dead man, the white, one-shouldered flak jacket of Kumogakure and their blob-engraved headband came into clear sight, and Sasuke frowned. The man was a Jonin. He'd been expecting Genin, or Chunin at the most.

Were Kumogakure that desperate to stop this business at the mines? It must be bad if they were sending a Jonin. He was glad none of his genin had been fighting him, but at least they'd been attacked; he'd started to get jumpy not being attacked after getting within sight of the border mountains themselves.

"Is anyone dead?" he asked loudly, scavenging the pockets of the Kumogakure ninja; shuriken, kunai, a couple of lightning scrolls that definitely wouldn't go amiss in the village library - lightning wasn't quite as rare as wind, but it didn't have very many techniques either.

"Karui-San and I are brimming with youth Sensei!" Lee yelled jovially."

Good - search their bodies for scrolls and equip,ent. We can use them ourselves" Sasuke instructed, even as Lee dug through the pockets of a Kumogakure Kunoichi and dug out an earth scroll.

"No... But I'm really, _really_ confused - I think I just blanked out for the whole attack Sensei... That's _bad_ right?" Choji admitted, sounding just as bewildered as he said he was, as well as a little shaky.

First kill jitters. Great. Choji seemed to be handling it well for now, but no doubt the boy would be in tears later. He remembered bawling his own eyes out. He'd push Naruko at him later - no doubt that'd solve the problem.

"In your case Choji, I wouldn't worry about it; your father told me about your family's Berserker trait, and that you were likely to have it from your mother's side. Your lucky - it's a good trait to have if you get into the ANBU" Sasuke replied, hoping the reminder of his goal and some progress towards it would cheer him up a little.

It was then that he realised the Kunoichi had not answered his check, and looked up sharply, the bad feeling that had been brewing in his gut suddenly growing. There was no sign of her.

She wasn't dead - thank the gods of fire - or there would have been a body. Kumo wouldn't have taken it when the rest of the team were still able to fight, or if their own numbers dwindled. Besides, the rest of the ninjas looked like Genin or low Chunin.

Despite their many flaws, and lacking abilities, his team were well capable of bringing down a low-level Chunin with what they _were_ talented with, especially Naruko.

So _where_ was she? Turning on his Sharingan again, he looked for large blobs of chakra in the area. He wouldn't be able to sense it after so far - he wasn't an Inuzuka - but the Sharingan had a good range of sight.

His eyes finally landed on. Small, orange blob with some darker red chakra bleeding from the centre. What on earth was she doing all the way out there? One of the ninja near Choji groaned, and Sasuke promptly threw a kunai at her.

As his sights set on the dead body, the flack jacket covering it glared at him mockingly. His eyes narrowed, then he glanced back at the Naruko blob. Seeing it slightly further away, his eyes widened.

He swore three whole times as he cased after the girl.

* * *

><p>Catching up with Naruko was a task in and of itself. The closer he got, the more he could see a second chakra clashing with her.<p>

He must have followed for half an hour before they finally stopped and he was able to actually get close enough to see that a brown-skinned blonde clutching a bloody mass where his ear was supposed to be. Judging by Naruto's head being covered in blood around her mouth...

Dear god, was she that desperate? Sasuke glared with his red eyes at the brown skinned man, flickering in front of him with his katana poised at his throat.

"I suggest you hand over my student before you loose you guts along with your ear" he warned the man; he seemed around his age, but probably wasn't more than a chunin by the feel of his chakra.

The man quickly dumped her in his arms, and still glaring at the man, daring him to move, Sasuke fished his ear out of Naruko's mouth.

"I think this belongs to you" he said, holding it out to him.

The man took it, and quickly scuttled away.

Sasuke watched from a distance as the illusion settled in on the dark skinned man.

After placing Naruko on the ground (thinking it to be Sasuke's arms), he scurried away after fishing his ear out of her mouth.

Waiting a few moments to make sure he was a good distance away, Sasuke jumped down from his tree.

Standing over the unconscious girl, he let out a long, calming sigh of frustration, before picking her up, and heading back to camp, muttering swears and curses so he didn't blow his head when the time came for a lecture.

Or let the killer intent he'd been inclined to subject the Kumo ninja with scare the kid out f her wits.

Gods above, this girl was doubtless going to be the death of him one day. And she'd probably do it by giving him a heart attack out of worry.

* * *

><p>When Naruko woke up, she was moving, and looking at stars; quickly piecing events together, she did what any sensible Ninja or Kunoichi wold do - she tried to struggle.<p>

The key word was tried; the anaesthetic laced smoke from the clone she had stabbed was still strong in her system, and her swats with her arms at her captor's face wouldn't have harmed a bug.

"I see you finally woke up" a familiar voice said, a clear note of self-control in it.

Naruko twitched, dread immediately flooding her at the tone in her teachers voice, then she looked up at his face; fuck, fuck, fuck, bugger, crap! He was pissed. He was seriously angry. Well, she couldn't blame him really; she had forgotten to mention the illusion problem on purpose, but still!

It was the first time shed honestly been scared of him. His chakra was practically oozing killing intent... It felt like it was going to blare out and strangle her.

She was _seriously_ in trouble.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Heh heh heh. The plot thickens. Fly my pretty, fly, fly! Muahahahaha! Wicked Witch of The WestLaverne-The-Disney-Gargoyle moment over.**_

_**So to round things off, lee is full of youth, Choji has a berserker mode, Naruko is in hubble, bubble, toil and Trouble, and Sasuke is swearing multiple times. Things aren't looking good for Team 7 at the moment are they?**_

_**For those wondering, Chomei is the name of the Seven-Tailed Beetle sealed in Fu from Takigakure. I'm hoping to worm her into the story, since she's my favourite of the other jinchuuriki. I've made a few edits in the previous chapters where thing may have been unclear about Naruto's power level.**_

_**In regards to that, I imagined her only slightly lower than Sasuke was in Canon as a Genin. Except instead of being decent at Illusions, they are a huge hamper, bigger than canon Naruto, and she's better with seals. **_

_**I figured that her father would have taught them to her as soon as he could, since it's one thing so central to her family techniques. Also if the Hirashin came off as a bloodline, it wasn't intentional either. I just forgot to mention she'd put seals all over the village to help her flick around it like she does *Face-Palm-Moment***_

_**These little moments of forgetfulness have been corrected, and put in as a side mention. You don't need to go back and read them, but I felt it best to clarify.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed the chapter :)**_


	8. Mission: Part IV

**Stupid Sensei**  
><strong>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<strong>

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Eight - -<br>****Mission ~ Part IV**

* * *

><p><em>'Turn around, turn around; they've surrounded you, it's a showdown, and nobody comes to save you now,<br>but you've got something they don't - you've just got to keep your eyes open'.  
><em>

* * *

><p>They soon got back to the camp, and after Naruko was plopped down on a log beside her frantic team-mates (who were being patched up by Karui-san), their teacher turned his glare on her.<p>

"I believe you have some _explaining_ to do Naruko; tell me, how is it that when your teammates can see through a simple, _academy level_ illusion, you fail so badly that you nearly get yourself captured by an enemy ninja?" he demanded in a terrifyingly quiet tone of voice.

It was always the tone of his words they had to watch to find out how much trouble they were in, since he shouted at them generally in training, and settled for affectionate sarcasm the rest of the time. And this tone was terrifyingly quiet.

Even her _father_ hadn't beed this angry with her for something! Her last prank on the monument had been a mild scolding compared to this.

"I.. I didn't want to hold Choji and lee back any longer. I thought-"

"That is not what I asked you Naruko; Even if you did or didn't get proper training in illusions from your father like you said you would - yes, I know about that, it was fairly obvious after your conversation with him a few days ago - an illusion of that level should have been in your capabilities to recognise! I want to know how _you_, the so-called _rookie of the year_, missed an illusion even five year olds would notice something shifty about!" he hissed.

Naruko flinched; that question had an answer. A very simple answer; she just couldn't do them! She'd tried an tried, and asked the academy teachers to help her figure them out, but they just smiled and told her she was doing fine, and indeed, that was how it looked... but she couldn't do them!

"I don't know... I tried I swear, but once I figured it out he'd stopped my chakra so I couldn't get my kunai and-"

"And what? You just tried to _bite_ your way out of it? You know what you are Naruko; your mother never sealed you or saved your life for the purpose, but _think_ about what you _are_ for fire's sake! You could have gotten out of that situation, but you were nearly captured instead!"

Naruko flinched again, reality hitting her as her father's words came from Sasuke's mouth (making a lot more sense all of a sudden), but still! How could he even suggest that?

_'I told you so, but that's the problem with women isn't it? You don't know how to listen. You never listen, and yet I am cursed with only female hosts...' _Kurama snipped humourosly.

Naruko ignored her snide companion.

"I can't control it! I don't even know _how!_ It's too dangerous!" she protested, telling a little white lie; she didn't think telling him she could talk to the demon was appropriate right now.

"And you think letting Kumogakure obtain a _third_ tailed beast would have been better? You wouldn't have survived the host change and _then_ what? If by some chance you did, do you think the Raikage would just let you come back home? I won't tell you that you father is right, because I don't think he is, but you need to think about your own position!" he snapped, completely raging over her.

He crouched down in front of her, Sharingan blaring angrily at her, and pointed to one of them.

"These eyes aren't for _decoration_ Naruko - your father was fully aware of the risks when he made me your teacher! Do you honestly think he'd let you anywhere _near_ a forehead protector without _some_ sort of security in regards to the Kyuubi?" he demanded

She couldn't answer. She tried, but the words wouldn't form in her mouth. She couldn't answer because he was right. She _knew_ the Sharingan could control the Kyuubi from when her dad had told her what really happened during the attack, she just... she didn't have time to think about that!

"I... I'm sorry... I just... I..."

She didn't want to use the Kyuubi! She didn't want to kill someone like that unless she had no other choice! She want supposed to use it so easily either! Her dad told her not to, and it was something she actually _agreed_ with him on!

"Well? I'm still waiting for an explanation!" Sasuke roared angrily.

"Sensei!"

"Uchiha-san, leave her alone! I realise that she made a mistake of some kind, but there's no need to scare her to tears! She said she was sorry! Isn't that good enough for now?"

Naruko blinked, staring at Lee and the woman she had been so angry at for the last week out of jealousy, then stared at the patches of water that had dripped off her face onto the fabric of her blue leggings.

Sasuke flinched, then pulled on his hair, gave them terse orders to reset up camp, and stomped of to pick u the bodies of the other ninjas littering the area.

Choji had a puzzled look on his face, but Lee gave her a hug, telling her not to worry them all by disappearing again in very non-flowery language. She wouldn't be too proud to admit she cried. Bit all over his jumpsuit. Lee was older than her and Choji, held back a year, and while he was quite extravagant he was sort of like a big brother.

It was never spoken that she was boss outside of training, but that seemed to be the pattern. Lee always warned them with unrestrained speech if either of their ideas were a bit much; he was ironically more sensible than she or Choji.

And he always gave out _amazing_ hugs.

Choji didn't approach at first, but he did give her a quick hug and tell her he was glad she was alright before going to help their teacher with body disposal duty - he seemed a little down about something, but before she could ask what, Karui had interrupted her.

"Naruko-chan, why don't you help me with the fire? I think we could all do with something to eat, and I think your teacher will calm down too" she asked kindly.

Naruko smiled at her for the first time since the mission started, but shook her head.

"Sensei doesn't eat other people's food - he thinks he might get poisoned. He's really paranoid - he wont even eat at the Yakiniku Restaurant .." Naruko said.

"Well, I suppose I understand that's the safer option in your business, but I don't think he'd suspect his student of poisoning him, d you?" she asked with a conspiratorial wink and a grin.

Naruko stared at the woman, whom she had been cursing for the past week, and her obvious attempt to help her get back in her teacher's good books.

"I suppose it'd be worth a try..." she mumbled reluctantly.

* * *

><p>Naruko stopped away from the camp towards the stream they had passed earlier, keeping her eyes on her footsteps, not caring if she was going gods-knew-where.<p>

She had to get a grip! This wasn't the time to be getting wound up, or angry or upset or anything! This was her first mission! Her first real mission! This was the first chance she had for her father to actually take an interest in her life, and she had fucked it up already! She needed to focus, and damn well fix it! She'd never get outside the village again if she didn't!

The jobs that they had divided amongst themselves helped calmed things down to an extent; Choji had seemed a lot better after helping Sasuke dispose of all the bodies (there were about six in total), and staying out of everyone's way on her part seemed to dim some of the tension, but it flared up again when they sat down to eat.

Karui-san _insisted_ on making Sasuke eat something, chastising him for turning down something his student had made for him. Sasuke was infuriated, but had eventually taken the bowl of soup and grudgingly eaten it.

It had been tense though, and as soon as everyone was done and Lee volunteered to wash the dishes up, Naruko bolted out of the camp, citing the need to wash off so no-one would follow her, taking som plain soap and clean underwear along for the sake of appearances.

Not that it really mattered - everyone else had conked out already.

Reaching the small lake she had been at earlier, Naruko sped up her footsteps, dropped her clothes and soap, and took a flying jump into the middle of it.

The splash and the rush of the water absorbed her anger with the impact. The water rushed around around her ears, clearing her head as little bubbles swirled and fizzed and popped around her ears. Straightening her body into a line, she rushed back up to the surface, exploding on the surface and inhaling a deep breath of air.

After a couple of extra breaths, Naruko flopped back into the water, staring up at the slightly clouded night sky and the stars peeking out from behind the dark grey clouds.

She didn't get why this was her fault! It was her dad's! He'd _promised_ to teach her how to fight off illusions! He _knew_ how important it was for her to learn it, and he'd promised he'd show up. And he'd left her another _'next time'_ note instead.

When he didn't keep his promise, she'd done her best to teach herself instead. She'd gone to the library after that visit to the hospital with Sasuke and her teammates, she had trained well into the night at her home's private training ground, but she couldn't do it!

She wished she could; she'd been fascinated by the idea of tricking the mind in the academy. It was the only art that truly emphasised the true ninja edict, in her option at least. She would love to be better at illusions, but no matter what she tried she just couldn't do them.

She just didn't understand them!

The only reason she'd cast that one illusion in training was because she used a seal to help guide the technique itself that had done most of the work, and because Sasuke had been deliberately leaving an opening for her. It didn't matter what he said about fighting her seriously - he was a Jonin, an Uchiha; like hell she'd ever be able to put an illusion on him for _real_...

Swimming to the edge of the lake she picked up her soap and began to scrub it over her clothes and hair; she could dry her clothes with a simple technique they learned in the academy survival skills classes.

As she scrubbed, there was a small chirp of a nightingale; it was a bit late for them to be out, not really the season either, but the little tune soothed her frazzled nerves. Satisfied the dirt was off (and the spots of blood from Choji's killing spree), she put the soap back on the bank, and dived back underneath the water.

Once again, the bubbles and flow of the water through her fingers was soothing; it felt like the water was bubbling her stress out of her as she sank down through it. She'd sort of like it if, once she started looking for her second element, it was Water, but she knew it wouldn't be.

Her mother had been an Earth and Wind user, her father a Lightning and Wind. Chakra types ran in families, and usually through a paternal line. Earth was a rare element for women too. She'd probably end up with Lightning like her dad.

Her breath fading, she pushed the bad breath out through her nose and rose for the surface again. She had sunk down quite far - she could hardly see the moon through the water from the depth she was at. Kicking her legs beneath her and not getting to the surface as fast as she'd like, she cursed her drifting mind.

She kicked some more, but the surface drew no closer, and as she kicked the sound of nightingales echoed in the water. Her mind was in full gear now though; obviously she was being attacked, but how she wasn't certain. It could be a water technique, but she had a bad feeling it wasn't.

She kept clicking to the surface, and the beautiful lulling chirps grew louder; the bad feeling clicked as the water began to suffocate her. It was a sound based illusion! The worst kind if she remembered what Sasuke told her about them in training was right.

_'Stop your chakra you stupid whelp!'_ the Kyuubi snarled, more out of personal panic than anything else.

She desperately tried stopping her chakra as she covered her ears with her hands, but it didn't work. The sound was already in her chakra system, continuously echoed through her ears with it, sapping away consciousness once again.

_'I swear on the fucking Will of Fire, I'm not going to train anything else until I master these fucking illusions when I get out of this!'_ she howled in fury to herself as the sleep inducing illusion struck her fully, and the water swallowed her.

* * *

><p>The fourth Hokage was staring at his mission duration calendar when the team he had summoned arrived in his office.<p>

The calendar spanned every mission that was give out that month over three sheets of parchment by rank, and detailed how long each was supposed to last before a report or a team returned to the village, and it was this what currently displeased him.

"You summoned us, Hokage-sama?" Itachi Uchiha asked, announcing his presence along with that of his fiancée, Neji Hyuuga, and his Genin team.  
>Bleakly he turned to them; three Genin, and three Jonin; that was all he had to spare besides himself. Only a set number of ninja could leave the village at one time, and all the preferred teams were already out. This was the best he had.<p>

"That I did. I'm sure you know why you're her, but I'll go over it anyway..." he sighed wearily, seating himself back down behind his desk.

"...Team Seven were dispatched on an escort mission to the iron mines at the border mountains of lightning country. The woman they were escorting would have settled disputes over mine ownership, however. That was two weeks ago..." he stated, leaning his hands on his fingers and propping his arms on his desk with his elbows.

Sakura and Itachi both stiffened a little, but nodded in a show of professionalism.

"...the mission itself should only have taken three days at most. I made enquires about their arrival to the mines, and this morning I received a reply to say no such mission was ordered, and that the ownership disputes had never been an issue. As such, you are to track down Team 7 under the premise of..."

Minato swallowed, maintaing his composure as the implication of this new mission finally hit him.

"...of a search and rescue mission" he finished quickly.

With this revelation, the Yamanaka girl on Neji's Genin team bit her lip, and her eyes widened, and though her teammates showed no show, their chakra fluctuations told a different story.

"You have been selected out of a lack of more specialised ninja free to pursue the task if, I'm blunt, but I think I would have chosen as such anyway. I am trusting you entirely with this mission, and unless you find... _Irrefutable_ evidence to suggest its failure, I do _not_ expect you to return quickly" he stated bluntly.

Minato held out a mission scroll, which was taken by the Sakura.

"I expect you to leave within the hour."

With those final words, the six- man squad bowed, and quickly left the room, leaving him alone to his thoughts again. Running his fingers through his hair, he glanced at the row of pictures that were propped up on his desk.

Three were of his wife, one a while after they started stepping out together, one of their wedding, and another taken just days before his wife's death. The rest were of his now missing daughter at various stages of her life, the most recent being after her academy graduation.

_'I'm Naruko Namikaze, perhaps that name rings a bell with you? I'm your daughter! You have responsibilities for me too! More than some stupid job! I shouldn't have to need an official appointment to see you for more than ten minuets a week!'_

Minato buried his head. His hands; Naruko had been missing before, very much so, and it had taken her physical disappearance for him to realise it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>It really isn't Naruko's week, is it? <strong>_

_**Her teacher/crush is furious with her, and now she's being mobbed by Illusion attacks. She really can't catch a break. Nether can Daddy-dearest. With any luck it will get better - I can't be certain TBH. I know the end of the mission, but the middle bits are just coming off the top of my head... ^^;**_

_**Oh, and if any of you lovely people use a UK Dictionary, I'd be very grateful if you'd be willing to beta for this story :) I've been practicing my oneshots, and my Yaoi is actually getting internet-tolerable, so there's one in there for you if you want it (yes, I'm using bribery; so what? If it gets a Lords Seat in the house of commons, it'll work for me XP).**_

_**Send me a PM if you're willing :)**_

_**Hope you guys liked the chapter.**_  
><em><strong>Nat.<strong>_  
><em><strong>xxx<strong>_


	9. Mission: Part V

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<br>**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Nine - -<br>Mission ~ Part V**

* * *

><p><em>'The tricky thing is yesterday we were just children; playing soldiers,<br>just pretending... dreaming dreams with happy endings'._

* * *

><p>"Sensei, my Kikaichu have located Sasuke-sensei's chakra trail. It heads off towards the east a few leagues" Shino reported.<p>

Ino looked up at her teammate her eyes wide with a silent question; Shino gave have an unreadable look behind his glasses, and then reluctantly shook his head; Naruko's trail was not present.

They had been travelling for two days at a full run, and while they were following the route that had been mapped out for Team Seven's mission, there hadn't been much sign of a real trail, and it had eaten away at her.

She didn't see Naruko much anymore, but they were best friends. Tenem was too, but Ino and Naruko had met first, when Sai had been returned to his father. Naruko had been with her father for the meeting and meal about the Yamanaka clan rehabilitating him with Ibiki.

She hadn't really cared much for the blank boy, and had been more interested in the blonde girl and showing the new girl her toy kunai collection. When she figured out mid-play that the blonde girl liked gardening too, they were set for _life_ in Ino's five-year-old opinion.

"Good, make sure they keep track of it Shino; Ino, I want you to use your Shintenshin Technique on one of the birds in the area and go scout ahead while we follow. My Byakugan can't see anything just yet, and we need to know what we're getting into here..." Neji-sensei replied in his monotone voice.

Ino gulped, but nodded; transferring into animals was still a little difficult, but her best friend and her cousin were in trouble, so she could deal with it. Sai gave her what she guessed was supposed to be a good luck grin, and she focused her hand signs on a small brown nightingale that was chirruping at the edge of the trees.

"Look after my body while I'm gone Shino. Grope me again and _die_ Sai!" she answered, trying to bolster her usual bravado back up before she filched into the mind of the small bird. It took a moment to get used to the wings and tail, but weeks of practice on possessing different animals made it a quick adjustment, and Ino was soon soaring through the air alongside one of Sai's small ink sparrows.

The distance flew by quickly with wings, and she soon found a used campsite. Swooping down, she inspected the dead fire pit, and the packs near it. She recognised one of Choji's immediately. Glancing at the tents, she hopped over to one and poked he head through the flap.

Choji and Lee appeared as though they were only sleeping, but the weight loss on both of them was readily apparent.

The faint pulse of chakra told her they were both alive though; flaring her chakra for Shino's bugs to follow, she swooped out of one tent and into another, which showed signs of a hasty departure in the messy coverings and forgotten belongings.

Flicking through the flap again, she head for the last tent; she knew this one would be Naruko's; it was an unmentioned but well established rule that the only Kunoichi on a Genin team had to share with the teacher, since the teammates couldn't quite be trusted.

She had to share with her own creepy, prissy Hyuuga Sensei, and Tenten shared with Sakura-sensei (they'd get their own tent when they were older though).

Flipping through the flap, she felt her chakra flare in panic at the single empty sleeping roll beside Itachi-sensei's brother. Naruko wasn't here. Struggling to push her worry aside lest she return to her body early, she hopped up onto Sasuke's shoulder and sniffed at his breath with her beak.

It smelled foul, but there was a tinged scent on it that indicated poison. Growing up in a flower shop had taught her a lot about poison, especially when she'd figured out their uses in lacing kunai and other weapons with them. She knew the tinged smell of it on the breath at any rate.

Flitting out of the tent, she chirped as loud as her nightingale gale host could in a familiar call she and Neji-Sensei had worked out in training. Then she flitted through the trees, in the direction she had just come from.

* * *

><p>"...need to speed up the pace Omoi! We need... over the border... figure out she's missing!"<p>

Naruko blinked awake as the unfamiliar voice reached her are on the wind that was rushing past her face, and tried not to panic at the feel of ropes on her wrists and ankles, or the feel of her chakra being blocked off.

Her head ached with the lingering effects of trying to break out of an illusion, and her body felt stiff, but she was trained enough to avoid moving (lest she alert her captors to her wakening).

"...maybe you should carry her for a while... Still don't think this is... What if she's some officials daughter and... Hokage sends a team... attacks Kumo...be a war!"

Naruko tried to process what she was overhearing as she slowly and carefully adjusted her eyes to the light. For some reason, her captors didn't know everything about her; they didn't seem to know her father was the Hokage, _or_ that she was a Jinchuuriki...

...but if that was the case why had she been captured? Slowly taking a breath, she discontinued that train of thought, and concentrated on her surroundings. The air felt thinner. She was at a high altitude most likely. Finally opening her eyes, her gut churned at the sight that greeted her.

Mountains. All she could see were mountains _everywhere_ she looked. _Mountains_ and _fjords_ for _miles_ in every direction.

One large one caught her eye, and piecing it against a memory of lessons on foreign countries with ninja villages... Lightning Country. She was right in the heart of Lightning Country! That mountain was a landmark, the tallest in the world! No Kumo ninja could hide it. Like no Konoha ninja could hide the volcanoes of Fire Country.

It was also a terrifying indicator that she was only _hours_ away from Kumogakure itself. The exact location of any Ninja Village was never plotted on maps, but there was always a physical landmark that gave direction to it.

That mountain was Kumo's physical landmark. Damn it all, this was just what Sasuke had warned her about! Everything he'd been so angry about was coming true! Had the gods decided this as a cruel and unusual punishment?

In any case, she had to think of something to get away... But that would be easier said than done. She was in a foreign country with no knowledge of the terrain, which in this particular area would no doubt be swarming with Kumogakure ninja.

She had no chakra, for it was sealed off, and while she would easily be able to escape the knots of rope, she would be completely stuck without her chakra. As if to spit on her second option, the seal felt so strong she could barley feel the Kyuubi's chakra anymore.

Again, she didn't think these two knew her Jinchuuriki status, but Kumo ninjas were always pegged as over cautious by the old veterans in the village. It was still a good thing though - the longer she could keep that information to herself the better.

"Will you quit over imagining things? She's just a Genin who lucked out with Uzumaki blood! We lost out once before, but we won't be loosing this time! Just you watch! We'll be promoted for this before you know it!"

Naruko's ears pricked up at that; the only previous attempt to steal Uzumaki blood had been when her mother was kidnapped. Her father had told her about it when she was little - they started stepping out not long after that.

If that was the case... She was _definitely_ in trouble. They wanted her bloodline, but it was a recessive bloodline, not an active one, meaning it couldn't be transplanted like a Sharingan or a Hyuuga eye. Meaning it had to be _bred_ from the original owner.

The thought made her feel revolted, ill and disgusted all at once. She had to get away. Whatever she could find as an escape, she had to take it. She had to do whatever she could. Aside from being so disgusted, if she didn't get away, and she did end up as breeding stock... That would be the Kyuubi's chance to get out, and Kumogakure's chance to get a _third_ Jinchuuriki.

She simply refused to let that happen. Sasuke was right; she did have responsibilities. She didn't want them, but she had them all the same. She'd been acting like such a brat lately, and if there was a chance to grow up, this was it.

"I still don't think this is a good idea Karui; she's just a _kid!_ You know Raikage-sama doesn't like getting involved with kids in this sort of thing. There are international laws to consider here! Bee-Sensei wouldn't approve _either!_ He'll be disappointed in you, and then well _both_ get thrown off the team because I didn't stop you, and then no-one will ever work with us again, and because we don't have jobs we'll _starve,_ and then-"

"I told you to stop overreacting Omoi! Raikage-sama will be proud we came back from Konoha with a present like her! She's got _Uzumaki blood!_ She wouldn't be allowed to wear the crest outside of the uniform if she didn't! She'll be well worth the trouble!"

That was _Karui-san's_ voice! She had known that little whatsit was a two faced little whore! She _knew_ it! She'd felt in her _bones!_ And now here she was, dragging her off for the gods-knew-what in _Kumo-fucking-gakure!_

Naruko so badly wanted to murder the double-crossing bitch of a client; just when she'd started to be nice to her she turns out to be a fucking plant! She would kill the rank little bitch as soon as she could! She'd _hunt her down_ and _maul her to death_ for this!

_'I'm impressed brat - that thought was almost gruesome'_ the Kyuubi commented, actually sounding... Impressed.

Naruko tried not to take his words as a compliment as she gave her surroundings a quick inspection.

Glancing around at the scenery, she could see that they weren't so high up yet that the risk of being smashed by impact on the water was completely fatal. There was a fjord right below her, and the path she was being carried along was a narrow mountain one.

Could she risk it? Her father said the Kyuubi had a huge healing factor, and she had her own vitality that would certainly help...

Her choices were either plummeting towards a flat expanse of water that might crush her, and on chance surviving and healing, and then making her own way back home, or spending possible years as a breeding sow in the experimental dungeons of Kumogakure, and handing them Konoha's biju in the process.

_'Jump whelp - I can bolster the fall enough and heal your injuries, even if this seal restricts my chakra enough to stop it burning away the seals on your own.'_

Naruko blinked, the familiar feel of the Kyuubi's presence returning.

_'You expect me to trust you that easily, Kurama-chan? I'm not that stupid'_ she asked depreciatingly.

_'Please refrain from insulting me; I do not intend to die inside midget little whelp who hasn't even called her first kill'_ he replied with a snort of derision.

Naruko decided she could trust the Kyuubi to look after his own interests, even if they were hers too. She glanced down at the fjord below and gulped at the straight plummet, but steeled herself all the same.

With one quick motion, she transferred her wight and rolled out of the loose grip that held her over the shoulder of the male Kumogakure ninja; landing on the path she rolled to the side before the surprise on her captors' faces faded, and hurled herself off the edge.

"You'd better keep your promises Kurama!" she hissed as she plummeted towards the water.

The thinner mountain air rushed past her as she plummeted rapidly towards the water; she heard the exclamations of her captors as they followed her, running behind her on the cliff itself. With some effort, she managed to angle herself so that her feet would hit the water first.

Better her feet be crushed by the impact than her head. Really, she had no idea what she was going to do once she was in the water, but Kyuubi said he had enough leverage to heal her, so it was best to make it up as she went.

The water was so close, only meters away when a dark-skinned arm caught her waist. It was the blonde man who'd put an illusion on her during the fight. He hoisted her up onto his shoulder again, before starting back up the wall.

"Thank the _gods_ for that! Just what are you trying to pull kid? If you'd hit the water at that speed you'd have crushed yourself, and then-"

Naruko ignored him, and his apparent concern; instead she writhed and screamed in his ear the whole way up the mountain side. In all honesty, he seemed like a nice guy, but unfortunately for him, he'd kidnapped her, and Naruko Namikaze _refused_ to be abducted without putting up a fight. Thus the screaming.

_'Bite his other ear; that'll teach him'_ the Kyuubi suggested.

Naruko did just that, and then cursed her stupid demon companion for his advice when the red-haired woman gagged her with a fucking _exploding tag_ in addition to the ropes.

"Shut up squirt; you wouldn't want to blow your pretty little mouth off now would you?" the red headed woman advised, her tone noncommittal rather than antagonising.

Naruko still felt antagonised though, and she could still kick lollipop guy's back. Apparently, being so close to Kumogakure meant that they didn't feel the need to knock her out again.

Naruko was very, very certain that was _not_ a good thing.

* * *

><p>"...ke! ...suke! ..Sasuke!"<p>

Sasuke blurted awake rudely at the sound of Sakura's voice; his head felt blurred, foggy, and dazed, and he couldn't quite remember what had happened in the last few hours. He did know that there was something _odd_ about hearing Sakura's voice though.

He also knew that he was starving. And that he had an evil headache that was reminiscent of a hangover; groaning he clutched at his head as he felt the cooling chakra of Sakura's Shōsen Technique.

"Thank god we found you!" the pink haired woman sighed with relief.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" he asked groggily.

"You've been missing for two weeks; Hokage-sama sent me and Itachi out with Neji's team to find you. We found you a few hours ago; you've been drugged with a slow-working anaesthetic, but because it was in your bloodstream so long without treatment it's slowly starting to poison you..."

"_What?_ Poisoned? How did I get..."

A different idea flicked to his mind, and he felt the blood drain from his face; if _he'd_ been poisoned, then what about those damn _kids?_ What about his _team?_ He struggled up into a sitting positions, his eyes on the doorway to his tent.

"Never mind _me_, I need to find those brats! Sakura, get out of the-"

"Sasuke, wait till I've finished healing you! We'll explain everything once you're back to normal! This isn't a difficult poison to counteract, but it's been working through your system long enough! Sit down! I already healed Choji and Lee!" Sakura growled, forcing him back as he tried to sit up.

Sasuke groaned again, but flopped back onto his sleeping roll; sitting up was a pain. He felt like he'd turned into a rock. Or rather, like he had been sleeping for two weeks; at least he could take comfort in the knowledge that the brats had been seen to.

It wasn't until she had finally helped him to his feet and outside the tent that he realise she had said nothing of Naruko. Outside, he was deposited on one of the logs surrounding a recently lit fire beside his equally hindered Genin, or two of them.

"Where's Naruko?" he asked his brother quickly.

Itachi faltered, and after a very bad looking glance at Sakura, turned away guiltily.

"She and Karui-san are... not here; Neji is searching the area with his team for her, but she wasn't here when we arrived..." Itachi replied anxiously; Sasuke's elder twin had grown rather attached to his team as a whole, so the worry wasn't unusual, but all Sasuke heard were the words _'not here'_.

"Sakura-Sensei! We found some of Naruko's things down by the lake! There are foreign chakra traces in the plants too, the same as on the bodies of those Kumogakure ninja!"

The voice came from a blonde girl dressed in a purple shirt, bandages around her waist, and a pair of mid-calf lenght purple shorts with her headband around her hips almost like a belt; Sasuke recognised her as one of Neji's Genin, and one of his own Kunoichi's friends.

"You said Karui-san isn't here either?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi shook his head, and Sasuke started to swear, violently; he stood up and kicked the tree trunk he had just been seated on as everything clicked into place. The attack to distract them, the so called client... They had been after Naruko from the beginning!

They'd sent a plant into the village to learn their weak spots, and communicate with the rest of the team. As soon as the opportunity had arose, they'd attacked as if they were trying to get at the so-called client. As soon as the woman had seen a chance, she'd drugged the rest of his team, caught Naruko by herself, and made off with her!

Two weeks Sakura said they'd been unconscious... There was no way they wouldn't have reached Kumogakure by now!

"Is there any trace of which direction they left in?" Sasuke asked.

Neji, who had arrived behind Ino with the rest of her team nodded; if he assumed they had already talked about events before they were drugged, then he and his siblings would know just how badly things had turned out too.

"From here they would have had to use the pass that travels west-south-west from Kumogakure... We can't all go along that route - it would be the fastest way past the border, but it's watched too heavily for more than three people..." he muttered.

Sasuke quickly turned the thoughts over; someone would have to follow and find a way past Kumogakure's defences.

The village used the mountain mists and clouds and harsh weather to conceal itself, much like the technique that made Konoha blend so seamlessly into the trees that surrounded it. It would be impossible to find with simply tracking and chakra sensing.

Lee wouldn't be able to follow at all - he could barley sit up, and his chakra coils... Sasuke didn't bear thinking about the effect the potion had taken on him. He needed to get treatment, fast. He refused to loose another student. Someone had to go though. Two people would get into the village fine, possibly three...

"Itachi, if you could take your take lee back with Neji; he can explain everything leading up to this best. He needs treatment more than us two besides-"

"What? Why do I have to go back to the village?" Lee demanded angrily; by his tone, Sasuke supposed he had caught onto things.

"Sensei, what's going on? What happened to Naruko-chan?" Choji asked, his tone matching the confused expression of the other Genin.

"Sasuke! You can't possibly be thinking of breaking in by _yourself!_" Itachi protested.

"You'll never get past the defences! Even us _Hyuuga_ can't find Kumogakure without help from..." Neji broke off, then turned to narrow his eyes on his own female student.

He glared at him furiously, and Sasuke couldn't blame him. This mission had turned on its head and cost him his own student. How on earth was he supposed to look after someone else's in enemy territory?

"_Fine_, you might as well take the lot of them in that case - you'll have better luck with a scout and a tracker anyway. She'll probably in the ANBU experimental section, or whatever the equivalent in Kumogakure is. You'll never find it by without them... But I want them back in one piece! I swear Uchiha, _one scratch_, and never mind _children_, you'll never have sex again..." he sighed in frustration, his tone getting a dangerous warning in it.

"Neji's right - you're a terrible tracker Sasuke..." Itachi sighed, ignoring Sakura's furious, argumentative, _'You're agreeing with him?'_ look.

"What? What are you _talking_ about? Where's Naruko?" Ino asked, reminding the Jonin that the Genin probably weren't quite keeping up with the conversation (except maybe Lee).

Sasuke took in a breath, trying to calm his raging nerves down to a more agreeable level.

"We think - and by think, I mean we're almost certain - that Naruko was kidnapped by Kumogakure after we were drugged. Team 9 will be accompanying me and Choji to Kumogakure through the Western Range..." Sasuke explained.

The Yamanaka girl's face grew horrified, her hands covering her mouth, a small whispers _'No!'_ muffled behind them, and Choji's face turned an ash-grey colour. Sasuke felt as pale as Choji looked himself. He had absolutely no idea how he was going to break into Kumogakure, nor how he would find the relevant ANBU section.

It would take two weeks to get there, and that was two weeks too long, but someone had to goof only as a scout for the Hokage. That, and Sasuke would gladly be damned the the fiery pits of hell if he let anything happen more than it had to his stupid, bratty, sweet little hell spawn of a Kunoichi.

As for the Aburame and Ibiki's kid, he couldn't say much about their reactions. One was completley covered by his coat, and the other hadn't quite figured out his emotions yet. Only lee managed to keep himself from reacting visibly, as odd as that was.

"Lee, I want you to go back with the other teachers and explain what happened to the Hokage whilst we try and infiltrate the village; he'll want to know everything the journey and our dear friend _'Karui-san'_, and I'm trusting you with it."

"I want to help though! You taught us to work together! I want to help rescue Naruko-chan!" Lee protested.

"Lee... I'll admit, you've only just removed from surgery, and I don't to risk that poison doing any more unnecessary damage than it already has, but this is _important_; Hokage-sama needs to know what happened so he knows how to respond in terms of which ninjas he sends out to help... Do you understand Lee?"

He asked the last question sincerely as he could ever manage; he didn't _want_ Lee to think he was sending him back just because of his chakra coils and recent rehabilitation. Someone needed to explain everything with Itachi and Neji (Sasuke already knew Sakura wasn't going to stay behind thanks to the new medical law), and Lee was better suited to that than Choji was at the moment.

Lee stared at him, before giving a firm nod.

"I understand Sensei; I'll tell him everything, I promise. I won't let you down! But if he sends another team out, can I volunteer for it?" he asked with a determined tone.

"I wouldn't expect anything less Lee" Sasuke smirked.

Less than ten minuets later, their things were packed, and he stood with Sakura and the four Genin watching Itachi and Neji leave with Lee between them at the fastest pace they could. With that he turned to the rest of the group.

"I'm sure you can see the gravity of the situation, so there won't be any rest-stops until absolutely necessary. We travel whenever we can, and we wont slow until we get over the border and up into the mountains. They will be swarming with Kumo ninjas, so be very aware of yourselves" he informed them.

Shino and Sai (Sasuke had inquired their names from Neji before he left) nodded, and Ino and Choji followed suit, with much more personal determination in the gesture.

"Take some of these; they're a special brand of hyorogan pellet. They'll last a little longer and help you keep up your energy while we're running. Normally Sasuke and I would slow down for you, and we will to an extent, but as Sasuke says... we don't have much time. I'm afraid you're going to be a little tired from all the exertion" Sakura added.

She was handing each of the Genin a large, dango-sized brown ball from her medical pouch; Sasuke grimaced in memory as the kids bit into it, and grimaced themselves at the taste. Sakura's cooking wasn't brilliant, but he knew those pellets worked well.

"I need the exercise anyway, right Choji?" Ino muttered, trying not to let her distaste show.

Her two teammates, for all their privacy, were not doing nearly so well. Shino had frozen solid by the looks of things, and Sai was obviously trying not to vomit from the taste. Choji simply swallowed the thing, chewed it, and gave a grim nod.

As soon as the four Genin had quickly finished the hyorogan pellets, the small team set off as fast as leaves on a gale-force wind towards Lightning Country.

* * *

><p><em><strong>And so we get some development all around this time, and a New Character prospective! <strong>_

_**I introduced Ino a little more here because Naruko does have friends she jabbers about things with in her free time, and I needed an outsiders opinion on finding the camp. Ino seemed the most logical choice. **_

_**As for Naruko herself... Well she isn't a very co-operative captive, let's leave it at that. Sasuke meanwhile is showing concern for his students, and is swearing... He's a good teacher lol. **_

_**Hope you liked the chapter :)**_  
><em><strong>Nat.<strong>_  
><em><strong>xxx<strong>_


	10. Mission: Part VI

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<strong>

* * *

><p>—If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Ten - -<br>Mission ~ Part VI**

* * *

><p><em>'Keep your feet ready, heartbeat steady; keep your eyes open.<em>  
><em>Keep your aim locked, the night goes dark; keep your eyes open'.<em>

* * *

><p>By some miracle, or <em>'sheer, dumb, luck'<em> as Sasuke called it, he and his small team managed to slip past the border.

They even managed to get halfway through the maze of mountain paths that led to Kumo before they ran into a squad of newly minted Genin on patrol. This was difficult; there was no way for them to get to Kumo if they were discovered, and so that meant no trace.

Killing kids; Sasuke had done it a few times, and it never got any less disturbing. Sakura point-blank _refused_ to do it. It made him worry about the Genin he'd been entrusted with though.

Sai wasn't too fazed, but having spent half his life a root captive, that didn't surprise Sasuke much. Shino was only a trifle less remorseful, stating that the mission they were on would no doubt turn out to be an S-Class, and that any enemies encountered should be treated as a threat equal to that status; Sasuke blamed the Aburame creed for that.

Ino was shaky after her first kill. _Very_ shaky. Sakura had to talk with her for a little while after they had moved on from the battle, before her desire to rescue her friend outweighed her moral dilemmas over death and killing.

She had possessed one boy, and made him drink a special brand of Yamanaka poison she carried in her kunai pouch; while it would cause no grievous effect to her body through her Shintenshin, the boy soon frothed at the mouth and ended up in a contorted shape, hard as rock with death after she had released the technique.

Choji had awakened his berserker traits again (Sasuke would have to start helping him control that with Choza when they returned to the village), but did not cope nearly is well as the first time. He burst into tears, and he had spoken with the boy for well over three hours as they continued on their path.

There were a few more small skirmishes along the way, and with each one Ino gradually began to focus on her main goal, as did Choji. It seemed to help them along the way, so while Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the thought of them killing so early, he didn't take much issue with it.

It was bound to happen sooner or later anyway.

After two weeks of travel, the patrols grew thicker, and they retreated up off the tracks, slightly above the routes the Kumogakure ninjas often used to avoid being spotted. By the the dawn of their third week of travel, they finally sighted the village itself.

Or rather the area it was supposed to be. The mists of the mountains were thick and unrelenting, and so they stopped for the day. This wasn't the only reason for their stop; Sasuke had received a message through one of the Hokage's toad summons that he had managed to amass a small force to try and breach the walls of Kumogakure.

All they needed was a destination seal somewhere close to the village. By keying it to some of the Hokage's blood brought with a small orange messenger frog, and sending back some of Sasuke's own, they would be able to transport the small force over the border without notice.

One of them would bring one of the Hokage's Hiraishin kunai, also keyed with his blood for the transport of their leader. While they were doing that, Ino, Sai, and Shino would each use their unique talents to locate the village.

Once found, Sasuke hoped the Raikage had a defence force as strong as his attack force, because if the Hokage deployed his Hiraishin seals on Kumogakure...

No force on earth was going to stop him.

* * *

><p>At first, Naruko spent two weeks in a rock prison built inside the mountain of Kumogakure, the towering spire on which it rested.<p>

It was cold, wet, dark, and judging by the screaming, not that far from the interrogation rooms. She had been chained to the wall, in firm set cuffs that didn't have any chains, so she couldn't even use one of the hair picks hidden in the material itself of her boots to try and unlock them.

The screams definitely bothered her; there was only so much training the academy could give you for torture and interrogation. They could learn how to counteract mental torture to some extent, but physical torture was another thing entirely.

The screams themselves were worrying enough. Naruko was lucky she had a companion with which to distract herself from them. She had half expected the Kyuubi to tell her what viscous tortures were awaiting her, but instead he distracted her by telling her what vicious tortures Sasuke and her father were going to inflict on Kumogakure when they caught up instead.

_'What makes you so certain they'll kick up so much of a fuss?'_ she'd asked on a particularly bad day.

_'Your Sire may be an idiot, but he is still your Sire. As for your teacher, all of his ilk are reckless, though loyal to those they choose to befriend. I have no doubt he is following. Besides, your village elders would gladly wage war with a rival village for the sake of their Jinchuuriki. You are far more valuable than you realise runt'_ he'd grumbled irritably.

That certainly kept her spirits up. It also helped her stay focused, keep track of how long she had been captive by listening to the conversations of the guards as they passed, and watching for when the corridor lights were turned on and off.

Every so often, a Genin or ANBU trainee would come in to feed the few prisoners, but Naruko refused everything but the water.

Even with her chakra cut off, her bloodline wouldn't be. She had an unnaturally strong life force; while some most people could only last a few weeks without food, she was made of sterner stuff. Two months was probably her limit at her current age and physical state of health. Three at a hard push. Four maybe, if she got really, _really_ desperate.

She didn't even need water as much, and if she could get out of the cuffs and find her own supply, she would be quick to stop taking what they did give her. God forbid she would ever live it down from her teacher if she was drugged so easily.

There was no point in making a secret about her bloodline when they already knew of it, so she would use it to her advantage. If Kumogakure thought they would _'break'_ her so easily, they were very wrong.

When she was moved three weeks had passed. A group of ANBU, all dark skinned and masked, entered her cold rock cell, and stuck a needle-full of anaesthetic into her arm. For all her bravery and refusals to give in to their mental prods, Naruko hoped to the gods it didn't mean it was now her turn in the T&I.

Even she wasn't that brave.

* * *

><p>After finding a good-sized cave, the search party got to work surveying the area and searching for Kumogakure.<p>

Ino possessed an Golden eagle, a Vulture, Kite, Buzzard, and a Peregrine Falcon (for which she had a particular affinity for) over a period of a week, and searched in her borrowed form for the presence of many people, many minds.

Only the yamanaka clan could detect a mind in such a way, and so only a yamanaka would be able to get a good indication of where it was. Sai also sent out small ink birds to survey the area, and shino sent out his chakra eating insects to try and find Naruko's trail, if it still lingered anywhere. Kumogakure may be able to hide themselves from Hyuuga eyes, but erasing the mind or scent was a great deal more impossible.

Sasuke meanwhile, sat in the cave with Sakura and Choji, painting out a very large transportation seal and keeping watch over their hiding place.

The first night, there was nothing but a small scratch on Ino's arm; some idiot had tried to hunt her buzzard form, but Sakura had quickly put it right again.

The second day, Sai had the report from his ink animals that there were trails all leading to one spot, and that Kumo ninjas used them often before they disappeared into the mists. Shino had confirmed that, and had also found a spot where Naruko's chakra had flared up for a moment.

After his description of the area, and an examination of the spot where the faint trail had headed, Sakura had guessed that Naruko had made an escape attempt of some sort. The next few days were spent with Ino going with her team-mates as Sasuke, Sakura and Choji worked on the all important seal, Sakura and Sasuke taking turns to keep tabs on the searching genin.

Ino came back on the last day with a smug _'found it'_ on her lips, and equally smug looks from her team-mates. Their timing couldn't have been anymore perfect, because the seal had been completed, and the transportation was about to start.

The group brought through the seal wasn't overly large, but Sasuke was surprised at how many people had come, especially the more powerful ones.

He'd assumed many of them didn't even like Naruko, but apparently he had been proven wrong. He'd swallowed one of Sakura's foul tasting hyorogan pellets before starting on pulling the people through, and even with the extra energy, he was still exhausted by the time the last transportee arrived.

Lee quickly headed for a hug, and Sasuke glared at his snickering co-workers and he returned it; just what was wrong with having an actual care about his students' well being?

Breaking out of the reunifying gesture, Lee handed him the Hokage's all important tri-pronged kunai. Setting it firmly into the rock, Sasuke stood back with the rest of the large group, and watched as it let of a yellow glow for a long few minuets, and then the Hokage himself popped into place before their eyes.

His face was grim, and Sasuke sudden felt very nervous as he and the other ninjas bowed; he was Naruko's teacher. It had been his fault she left the camp like she did, his own fault for letting his guard down, letting his temper get the better of him, getting poisoned... letting Naruko get kidnapped.

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke flinched, and looked up at the man.

"...get me up to speed on your observations; have you found the village?" the Hokage asked.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief at the non-threatening (if not amiable) tone in the blonde man's voice, and quickly started briefing him on the progress they had made so far, throwing in a few compliments to the Genin for working so well together and finding the village essentially by themselves; Neji was glowing with pride by the time he was done.

"Well, that is certainly a major step up for us; we already have a plan in mind, and now we have time to prepare a little more now that we know the village's location. It's not very complex, but I think it will impress on the Raikage just how serious we are" Minato noted with a very dangerous note in his voice; Sasuke was glad he was not the Raikage.

After a few more questions, one of the council members stepped forward; Koharu Utatane looked rather strange on a Jonin uniform, but Sasuke wasn't too surprised to see the her or Homura. They were old, but they were still very accomplished, and their input was valuable. There was a reason they were on the council, even if they were a pair of goats sometimes.

"Our main plan will be to get Hokage-sama's Hiraisin seals all over the village; half of us will go to the gates and approach directly. Some of us will use this opportunity to sneak into the village and lay the seals for the Hiraishin. We cover as many buildings as we can. A smaller group will go with Hokage-sama as his guards to the Raikage's offices to deliver our ultimatum. Half of them will split off to search for Naruko-chan" she explained quickly and pointedly.

"Fugaku and I will be happy to be part of the front assault on the gates" Asuma, the Third Hokage's son voiced promptly.

Sasuke blinked, then stared at his father; he hadn't even noticed he was there until now! But there he was, standing between Asuma and Itachi with a nod of agreement.

Several others volunteered for he frontal assault on the gates, including his cousin Shisui, Kakashi and his team (even Hinata, Naruko's _'mortal enemy'_ looked determined), Tsunade, Lee and Gai. And the two boys from Sakura's team. Izumo and Kotetsu added their abilities along with Raido and Hayate too. He assumed the ANBU who also volunteered was his girlfriend - he recognised the purple hair.

Jiraiya and Homura both volunteered to help Sai write the Hiraishin in his ink animal scrolls; they would duplicate the seals by the hundreds, and they would be sent through the village as ink mice or small birds before melding themselves into the framework of the buildings.

"Sasuke, I want you to take Ino along with Sakura, Shino and, Tenten and Choji and search for Naruko; you've proven that you are up for the task if these Genin could find Kumogakure between them" Minato instructed so calm it made everyone nervous for the Raikage.

"Neji trained them well Sir..." Sasuke said; he didn't want credit for training someone else's students when he had messed up with his own so badly.

"Inoichi, Shibi, Choza, Itachi, Shikaku; I'd like you and Koharu to accompany me inside the main building, especially Inoichi and Itachi. If _A-sama_ has had a direct hand in this I want to know _why_, and if he hasn't, then I want to ensure his co-operation in finding out who _did_..."

The meaning of his words was not lost even on the Genin; Itachi's presence in his T&I uniform was also very telling.

As the Hokage started pulling sealing scrolls from the end of the cave, calling to Sai and the other sealing volunteers, the rest of the ninja present quickly followed suit.

Preparations were needed, and there was little time on which to make

* * *

><p>When Naruko woke up, her surroundings had changed, drastically.<p>

For one thing someone had changed her clothes; she now had a white smock on, like some sort of sacrificial virgin. How quaint was that? Her chakra was still blocked off of course, but someone had healed the welts and sores the manacles had been leaving on her wrists and ankles.

As for the rest of the room, it was a very clinical one. All white paint on the walls and floor; it was warmer than her last one, and she didn't have any chains on his time, but it couldn't help but look like the room of a human guinea pig.

She had a bed, a table and chair to eat off, and there was a door in one wall which, on inspection, turned out to be a bathroom. There were windows, but a look at the seals surrounding them told her better than to try and touch one of the glass views of Kumogakure.

There wasn't much other than the blankets and pillow actually. The bed was wood one, and she might be able to break one of the legs off to use as a club, but first she'd have to find a way out. Besides, a club wasn't all that lethal, and she would need lethal if she were going to get out of this guinea pig prison.

It was a good thing her chakra was sealed off in one way; if it had been connected enough, then her seal would have shown on her stomach when she was changed into the white smock. Thankfully it was only enough to speak with the Kyuubi (with enough concentration).

Some time after she woke up, a plate appeared on the table with a spoon; glancing at the food, and comparing how she felt to the calculations she ha been making in her old cell, she took up the plate of mashed meat and vegetables, and then headed to the bathroom with it.

She was not being poisoned again. And if they tried to force food down her throat, she still had a chance of putting up a good fight. She still had some energy, and if she could conserve it, all the better.

After scraping her food off into the toilet and flushing it, Naruko began her plans of escape. She knew that she was being watched from somewhere, so she would have to be careful, but only to an extent.

Naruko was contemplating throwing something at the seals as she laid back on her bed, when the wall opened, and a dark haired man in a white one-shouldered Jonin vest, sleeveless black, high collared shirt and light blonde air with a fringe over one eye (like Ino's) entered the room.

If she had been a victim of abduction-by-the-enemy, she might have thought he was cute. Unfortunatley, he was one of her captors, so she immediately despised him.

As he entered the seals on the window darkened; the reaction did not go unnoticed by the blonde girl, but she didn't let on she ad seen it. Instead, she focused more on her new visitor.

She frowned at he tattoos on his arms, recognising one of the lightning ones from some where, and the bandages on his wrists. There was an indication of sealing tattoos from someone, or some on a fabric wrist wrap like Sensei had. That meant he had an appreciation of them, unlike many Kumo ninja.

The door had to be controlled by seals somehow. All interconnected and linked no doubt. If something were to happen to just one part of those links...

"Hello" he greeted blandly; he didn't sound much like he wanted the job he had been tasked with.

Naruko sat up and glared at him; he fidgeted a little, and she smirked. Her dad's glare worked very well when she mixed it with the one she'd picked up from Sasuke-sensei.

"How are you feeling Miss Uzumaki? I'm sorry about your previous lodgings. You weren't supposed to be placed there"

Naruko snorted, then rolled over and turned her back to him.

"I'm not an Uzumaki" she snapped irritably.

Technically she wasn't lying. Her family name was Namikaze, not Uzumaki, even if she did consider herself a member of the clan and had the bloodline of it.

"Pardon?" the man asked confusedly.

"You heard me. I'm not an Uzumaki. Go away; if you think a nice prison cell will make me feel like listening to you, you are sorely mistaken" she grumbled.

She remembered lessons from the academy and Sasuke-sensei about what to do if you were caught by an enemy village who wanted information. Bend the truth as much as possible so that you would pass lie detecting techniques and not give anything away, don't look anyone in the eye, and never ever sound as if you were intimidated, no matter what they said or did.

"Is there anything you need then Uzu... Sorry, what's your name...?" he asked, stumbling over himself in an attempt to maintain pleasantries.

Naruko thought about it; the moment she told them her real name, there would be investigations and it wouldn't take them long to figure out her biology. It would be difficult to respond to a very different name though, so after some educational reforms by her father, a new class had been introduced.

She had prepared a false identity in the academy along with the rest of her classmates, she knew it inside out. Every ninja in Konoha was supposed to have one to supply to foreign villages in case of capture, and all teams and relatives would recognise the name if necessary.

It was one of the changes her father had made that had risen Konoha in the ranking of the five villages to a three-way tie with Iwagakure and Kumogakure. There were others too, but this was one that made the other villages so misinformed about Konoha.

The ANBU needed to have several. She knew that Sasuke-sensei and Itachi-san had made false identities of each other that had given Iwagakure a lot of confusion at one point. She thought that was kind of smart.

"Naruto" she replied waspishly.

"Is there anything you want Naruto-chan?" the man asked.

"I want you to let me out so that I can go _home!_" she screamed at him, turning at sitting up on the bed to glare at him too.

His face grew weary, and he sighed.

"Naruto-chan, this is your home now."

_'Naruto'_ blinked.

"What do you mean by that? What do you mean _this_ is my home now? _Konoha_ is my home! I'm a Konoha ninja!" she asked suspiciously.

The dark-skinned man sighed again, and walked towards her, kneeling down in front of her, and laying a soothing hand on her shoulder. She could see his tattoos more clearly now, and she knew who he was. His involvement was either a sign of a Coup, or the Raikage's political senses really had gone down the drain.

"I promise you'll be taken care of, and if you want something, we'll do our best to get it for you, but you cannot leave Kumogakure. I know it isn't Konoha, but the sunsets are alright, and there are a lot of birds. You'll like it..."

Naruko blinked at him, then she scowled, and swatted his hand off her shoulder, standing up on the bed, and swinging her foot out towards is nose. He was caught by surprise, but oly landed on his backside; unfortunately, nothing had been broken.

She made up by spitting on his forehead protector.

"You can tell your _illustrious_ leader what I think of his so-called village, not to mention his diplomacy, Right-Hand-of-the-Raikage-san. He can try whatever pops to mind, but he won't be getting what he wants from _me_" Naruko sneered.

Contrary to her words and actions, Naruko had not lost her mind; in fact, it was working rather well. She just needed this bungler out of the room so she could work on her _'tantrum throwing'_ and through it, start working on her escape.

Naruko had been thinking of the seals that had flared up while _'Naruto'_ entertained her supposed brain-washer, specifically what it would take to get a bad reaction from them, and she had determined that a few well thrown pieces of furniture in the right sequence in one spot would blow the whole wall out.

Kumogakure was know for its distinct _lack_ of a proper sealing programme, or any notable practitioners of it, let alone any masters. It was the reason they wanted the Uzumaki bloodline; it wasn't a specific predisposition towards sealing, but even an Uzumaki who was bad at sealing would be considerably better than anyone Kumogakure could come up with.

In any case, Naruko was certain she could break her way out of this rock-cell; once her companion had sighed, apologised a few times, and left, she began to do just that.

Pulling fake tears to her eyes and screaming with frustration - that wasn't acting, she was genuinely pissed off for getting herself stuck in this mess - she picked up the chair her had been sitting on and hurled it across the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>And so, several plans have been put into action. <strong>_

_**Naruko is not adjusting well to captivity, nor does she intend to, and Daddy has flipped his lid completely. Next chapter should see a little more action from both Sasuke and Naruko. Possibly a reunion, I'm not sure yet.**_

_**Hope you liked the chapter :)**_  
><em><strong>Nat.<strong>_  
><em><strong>xxx<strong>_


	11. Attack: Part I

**Stupid Sensei**  
><strong>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<strong>

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Eleven - -<strong>  
><strong>The Attack ~ Part I<strong>

* * *

><p><em>'Please pay attention; you know all you belong to me. Survival of the fittest; lose and you will answer to me. <em>  
><em>You don't talk, you don't say nothing to the ruler and the killer.'<em>

* * *

><p>"...alright, now that the paperwork is out of the way, what's going on with this prisoner you've brought me?" Ä asked the two-man team in front of him, with any luck, soon-to-be Jonin.<p>

Ä wouldn't admit to having a soft spot for many of his ninja, but his brother's team were one of those select few.

The mission to infiltrate Konoha had been a great success. Minato would probably be irritated when he found out about it, but an angry letter wasn't all that intimidating.

He finally had an idea of how the man had been handling the loss of his wife and managing his kid (whom he now knew to be a daughter), something he had been struggling to get ahold of for several years now.

Ä wished the idiot would talk to him more about his personal life, but the man was as stubborn as he was. Thus he had to resort to sneakery if he wanted to know anything at all about his life. Damned stubborn fool.

It gave him a good insight into the village too, and Ä would never pass up an opportunity to learn about enemy defences.

This prisoner he was intrigued by however; Karui absolutely _refused_ to let Omoi tell him anything about her, insisting that it was a surprise. She said they would reveal her to him when she had been brought around to the Kumo mindset.

Normally he wouldn't stand for this sort of behaviour, but they had managed to give him a good report about Minato.

Not much about his daughter unfortunately, but he wasn't too bothered by that. Karui had admitted that there was so much security around her that even their ranking in the hospital hadn't revealed much information on her. Omoi had added that the villagers were reluctant to talk about her too.

About all Karui and Omoi had found out about the girl was that her medical problems were handled by Tsunade Senju for the most part (unsurprising - Ä would have done the same had he any children).

Nonetheless, in spite of this setback it was a good, thorough report that had answered a few of his niggling questions. So he humoured them on the matter, anticipating the surprise. Karui mentioned a bloodline, and Kumo _desperately_ needed a few more decent bloodlines. Ä wasn't above rough-housing to get them either.

"At the moment Darui is trying to bring her around to our way of thinking sir. She isn't responding well though, so if there isn't any progress by the end of the week, we were going to ask the head of the Psychiatric department to step in with some of his... non-lethal negative reinforcement techniques" Karui replied.

"We've thought about talking with the T&I department too, but Darui refused clearance for that on grounds of International Laws. As it is, if we claim her a Psychiatric patient, we might be able to remind her that she's a Kumogakure ninja" Omoi added.

"Which methods are you thinking of here?" Ä asked suspiciously.

He had to be careful when it came to interrogating Kids; after that mess in Kirigakure with the graduating massacre, new laws had been put in place regarding promoting kids too soon to real ninja ranks, and thereby adulthood.

"None of the physical ones, or the torture ones; just some of the milder... Negative reinforcement options. A specialist from the psychiatric floor would be observing too - we already have approval from the hospital" Omoi replied a little reluctantly - he didn't seem to be as sold on the idea as Karui was.

"Very well, you have my permission, but keep the... '_treatments_' minor. If this girl is as valuable as you say, I don't want her turning into a vegetable" he grunted as his assistant came through his office door with yet more paperwork.

"Yes sir" the two parroted loyally.

"Good - now get out, I have work to do"

They did just that, and without any worry, Ä turned his attention to his paperwork, not knowing that he should have worried from the moment Karui and Omoi announced a new resident in the holding cells.

* * *

><p>Naruko hurled a chair after Darui as he left the room without any progress once again from <em>'Naruto'<em>. It landed with a crash just as the rock walls sealed up, and she smirked as the seals that had darkened started to bleed with little bubbles of black ink.

She could smell it in the room; the seals in the prison were weakening after a full week of temper tantrums and furniture defacement against the walls. She had managed to keep her strength up by taking tiny sips of water each time they sent food through to her.

Even of it were poisoned, it was better if she had a little now and then. As long as she only took sips, she wasn't in danger of being drugged so much that she would loose sense of rationality, and it wasn't every day she took it either.

But that wasn't important - the important thing was that she was making progress. Just one more seal, and she'd be out of this clinical prison. See if they'd turn _her_ into breeding stock!

Picking up a thoroughly battered piece of furniture that may have one been a chair, Naruko threw it at the wall in fury.

All of a sudden, the wall started to open, and Naruko darted back from it as that red-haired bitch entered along with Darui. a few people in what looked like doctors uniforms, and a man in an interrogators uniform (she recognised it from when she had been in the previous jail) followed too.

What was going on? No one else had come in before, especially not doctors. This was _not_ a good sign. This was not a good sign at _all_. She didn't know what doctors wanted with her specifically, but the interrogator being with them just screamed warnings at her.

"Is that her?" one of the doctors asked.

"Yes - as you can see, she isn't reacting at all well to the rehabilitation treatments. We can't even put her in the psychiatric wards. She's too strong - the civilian doctors wold never be able to restrain her enough for proper treatment" Darui replied, reluctantly.

He glanced at her, and she could have sworn Darui sent her an apologetic look, but for what, she had no clue. She was sure she wouldn't like it though.

Naruko didn't know that much about Kumogakure's T&I preferences. They didn't have a mental clan like the Yamanakas, so she figured that most of it was physical torture, but she didn't know any particulars. Nor did she want to.

"Poor girl - she looks like a cornered rat; you said she'd been on the treatment two weeks now?"

"Yes; we had to keep her in the jails for two weeks before she calmed enough for that though, and as you can see, she still thinks she's a Konoha ninja" Darui replied to the doctor.

Naruto's eyes widened as she started to catch the drift of the conversation; they couldn't be thinking of rewriting her memories or something could they? Not even the Yamanaka's could do that! She knew, because Ino's dad was trying to develop a technique for it - she'd seen the report to her dad!

Whatever they were planning though, she was having nothing to do with it!

_'I suggest you use that open door to your advantage and get us out of this place; you can get past them if you're quick enough. I'll try and boost your speed, but don't count on my aid whelp. Your chakra is still sealed and there is little I can do to manoeuvre my chakra around the restrictions'_ the Kyuubi suggested.

_'I'm working on it...'_ Naruko muttered inside her head to the beast as she glanced around for something she could use as a weapon or distraction. There wasn't much apart from her destroyed furniture though...

"Very well; it sounds like she had a strong reaction to one of the sleeper spy techniques. I believe it can be rectified with a few doses of treatment three. If we graduate the doses, it should counteract the technique" the second doctor agreed.

Naruko glanced from the corner of her eye at the piece of wood in her hand; it was sharp and pointed enough to be a stake if she broke it off the main block in the right spot. That might be enough to unsettle them long enough to get out.

She'd have to be quick though... Could she _be_ that quick without the Hiraishin? Without her chakra? Did she really have a _choice_ about it? No, she didn't. It was speed, or torture and imprisonment. She had to get out. She had to get out. She had to get out!

"Let's get on with this then" the interrogator nodded, entering further into the room with two more who had presumably been standing beyond the doorway.

Naruko threw the piece of old furniture in her hand at one of the doctors like a javelin towards his head. He was so surprised by her sudden dart forwards that it met its mark, sliding through one of his eyes and out of the back of his head with a sickening crack of bone.

What followed was chaos.

Naruko darted her way through and beneath the legs of the adults, struggling with all her might to bolster her speed with her physical energies rather than chakra; Lee did it all the time, but she'd never grasped the concept completely. Instead, she brought the energy that gave her such a strong vitality to be the booster.

Yanking the bloodied spike, she pulled it straight through his head then swatted it like a mace at the legs of the other interrogator, pushing all the energy she could not her speed.

Naruko pictured seals the same way she did when she was using the Hiraishin to help her focus on it, and it was almost as if she were using it. Just with the energies her bloodline provided her with rather than chakra. It was actually astoundingly similar in comparison to her usual speed.

Stabbing her spike into the back of one of the doctors, and clubbing the second in the back of the head, she did the same with Darui and that hag, she didn't kill them though. For one thing, Darui had been nice to her, and for another, she couldn't wast her strength.

It had served her well enough though; seconds later she was out of the room and into the hall before they realised she had killed four people and knocked out two more with a piece of wood. Darting through the sliding halls, Naruko knew she only had minuets until the alarm went off.

She also knew better than to simply dart through the halls gathering attention. As soon as she was sure she was far enough away, she slowed her pace and tried to look as if she knew where she was going. Lost people under pressure always stuck out in the enemy camp. Like a duck in a new pond that hadn't taken to the water yet.

She needed to go down, if the little she knew of Kumo architecture was right; one of the veterans in the village had come into the academy and told them how he escaped a Kumo prison during their escape training. There was one for all foreign nations.

He'd said that Kumo put their cells at the top of mountains where it was harder to go down and escape - jumping out of window from such a height with no chakra was definitely a no go, and more ninja would be at the bottom to block the route of escape.

There was one problem to this however, and Naruko encountered it as she found some wall signs at the end of a corridor, indicating to new paths.

Flicking her eyes over the signs, Naruko struggled to remember what she little she knew of the Kumo script. She could speak the language well enough, but the writing she hadn't quite finished studying yet.

She'd been more concerned about Iwa being the hostile force than Kumo. As she tried to figure out the meanings of the signs, a siren began to blare through the building, and she swore under her breath.

Counting on her luck bailing her out at the last minuet, Naruko took a guess and headed down the corridor with more signs. If the way out was at the bottom of the mountain, then it only stood to reason that more signs to other departments would be that way too.

At least, that was her theory. Walking as briskly as possible, she headed down another corridor, and stole into an unguarded storeroom. Searching round the shelves, she found a few bottles of ink and some spare papers and parchment.

Hiding out of the way in case someone came in, she tipped the bottles of ink through her hair, and smeared it through eyebrows and lashes with her fingers, soaking up the excess with the paper and parchment. Converting a huge chunk of her physical energies again, she even managed to dry off her hair, leaving it stained black.

Searching through the storeroom again, Naruko found a black, sleeveless zip up shirt with a white lining; it was big enough to be a dress on her, and pulling off the ink-stained smock, she pulled it on along with a pair of black sandals that she had seen a few Kumo ninja wearing. The armoured ones.

Heading out and down the corridor again, she found a much more specific stockroom, and was able to get herself a pair of Shuriken and kunai holsters.

Feeling much more secure in her disguise, she continued to follow the signs.

It was fairly easy to slip by unnoticed; there were a fair few kids her own age in the building, likely Genin like her. Eventually she found a staircase, and judging by the number of people using it, it was a general one. It smelled a little bad though. Like something was rotten.

_'Don't go that way - it smells of death. Go left before the stairs'_ the Kyuubi snapped quickly.

Naruko blanched; smell of _death?_ That was either the experimentation labs or the morgue. Probably both. She certainly didn't want to be going there.

_'How can you tell?'_ Naruko asked warily.

_'Kumogakure may be interfering with our chakra systems, but it has _not_ blocked my nose from me, now go left. I will guide you whelp'_ the fox explained; with that reasoning, Naruko did as she was told.

* * *

><p>Heading through the halls at the instruction of the Kyuubi proved much more efficient, and gave Naruko a bit more training in using the sense of smell he'd blessed her with over the years.<p>

Eventually, she began to follow the trail of clear air herself. After descending ten flights of stairs, she could see the exit. Keeping herself calm as she could, she aimed for it.

Then she saw that damned redhead guarding the doorway and bit back a curse. There must have been a shorter path! She kept her head though, stayed calm, and made it through the doorway past the little bitch.

Three steps into the main street of Kumogakure, she felt a dart land in her neck, and her limbs failed her. Crumpling to the ground, she glared at Darui's familiar face as it appeared over her, his expression apologetic as usual, but oddly more serious than usual.

How had they _known?_ She'd done everything she'd been taught to do! It should have _worked!_ The questions must have shown on her face as he lifted her up, because he answered them for her under his breath.

"Not many people have black hair in Kumo - you were better off with your natural colouring. You don't have a chakra signature either, it's still sealed off. You stand out like a sore thumb Naruto-chan" he explained softly.

Naruko glared at him, but said nothing; Darui had been nice to her,never if he was trying to brainwash her.

"For what it's worth, you would have done a good job if it wasn't for the chakra - black hair isn't that rare, and you're smart, cool headed. I know a few of our own Genin who wouldn't have managed to get out of the door" Darui added, trying to cheer her up as the roof of the building she had almost escaped from began to pass by above her.

He almost sounded like he was trying to cheer her up.

"Not smart enough to get home though..." she mumbled.

She couldn't accept it. She couldn't believe it! She had been so _close!_ She had been outside this stupid building! She should have started running as soon as she was outside, as soon as she was past Karui!

"Um... Sorry..." Darui apologised; he sounded like he meant it, and that scared her.

Why would an enemy be feeling so sorry for her unless something nasty was planned? What were they going to do to her? What? How was she going to get away? They would double the security around her! The only way she was going to get out was if someone broke her out now!

Fat chance _that_ was going to happen - someone would have come looking for her by now! She was the Hokage's daughter for crying out loud! If she hadn't been a _fucking Jinchuuriki_ the village would be making calls of war on Kumo by now!

She thought her team mates and Sasuke-Sensei would have come looking for her, but they couldn't take on a whole village by themselves. All of a sudden, she felt horrible; she felt stuck, trapped, and above all...

"I want to go _home..._" she murmured, cursing the idiot who made her arms and legs stop functioning, because she couldn't even cover up the sniffles or tears on her face.

Darui was kind enough to shift his hold so she could wipe her face on his Jonin vest.

"I know... I'm sorry."

Hearing that damned apology again just made her cry more; she was _scared_, and she wanted to go home. Was that so wrong? She didn't want to be a breeding experiment, or some sort of Kumo drone! She wanted to go _home!_ She wanted her _dad_ more than anything.

She'd been so _horrible_ to him before...

The small sniffles became a screaming fits of hysterics when she was handed over to the doctors and interrogators; some of her movement had started coming back, so she'd even managed to kick one of the bastards in the goolies before they strapped her wrists above her head on the bed and followed suit with her waist and ankles.

"I know your scared right now Naruto-chan, but don't worry, you won't be confused anymore after your treatment" Karui said once she was secured down, going so far as to run her hand over her cheek soothingly, like a friend would.

Naruko spat in her face, and then the doctors started wheeling the bed she had been strapped to down the corridor; she writhed against the restraints, but it was like being chained to the wall again. Lights flickered above her head, annoyingly so, and she was soon wheeled into a room that hummed with chakra.

It felt... Static; before she could twist her head to see what was going on, someone held her head in place, and something was put in her mouth, keeping it open as two more something's were attached to the side of her head.

_'Kyuubi, what are they doing to me?'_ she demanded of her companion demon.

The Kyuubi didn't say anything, and she struggled to see something from her peripheral vision; her eyes settled on a pale-skinned blonde man holing onto two ends of wire that seem to be leading to the things that had been attached to the sides of her head.

"Shee, is everything prepared?" one of the doctors asked him.

"Yes sempai."

"Very well, let us begin; I will take the dosage from here. Make sure her head doesn't move too much; we don't want her hurting her self from the shocks" the doctor instructed.

And of course, _that_ just made her struggle against her restraints, and try to spit out the thing in her mouth, only for the two interrogation men to put it back in and keep hold of her. Shocks? What did they mean by shocks?

"On my count then; in three, two, one..."

_'Kurama! What are they doing to me?'_ Naruko demanded again the doctor started his countdown.

_'Something unpleasant'_ the demon replied with a distasteful tone.

As he said it, the electric charge shot through her, and Naruko screamed at the sensation of lightning coursing through her nerves, blood, and every other fiber of her body.

* * *

><p>Minato watched as the ink animals Sai had drawn scurried down the side of the mountain under Jiraiya's camouflage technique with an impassive face, but inside his emotions were in turmoil.<p>

He couldn't imagine the Raikage kidnapping his daughter himself, but at he moment that was the evidence pointed to. Most Kages wouldn't allow such a benefit of the doubt, but Minato had room to do that.

It was a benefit granted only by a closely guarded condition, one only the heads of his ANBU and ANBU-yu divisions knew about, but it granted a very great deal of political sway between Kumogakure and Konohagakure.

Had any other Kage been around, it would never have existed, but Minato was banking on it; he did not particularly want to fight his fellow Kage, but he was perfectly capable of doing it if Naruko's safety was in question.

If there was more to this than met the eye, he would investigate, but Naruko was his main concern. Ä would understand that if he had to. And Minato would make sure he had to.

"Sir, the infiltration team is ready to depart" Sasuke said quietly.

Minato turned and stared calmly at his daughter's teacher; if it weren't for the fact that Sasuke looked as bad as he did and hadn't slept for days (according to Sakura), he would have been a dead man already.

There was no rule against it he had to abide by, such was the power of the Hokage position. There had been a moment when he had contemplated it too. Then he remembered that had Sasuke not followed Naruko's trail when he did, they would never have found it again.

Sasuke was punishing himself with guilt enough already.

"Good. Remember to send word to Inoichi when you've infiltrated the village; we won't start till you're inside and searching" he reminded the dark haired man sombrely.

Sasuke nodded, and bowed before heading towards another large transportation seal that had been drawn; it would send the infiltration group to a spot just beyond the range of Kumo's sensors that had been set up via one of Sai's ink sparrows.

A glance at the small mismatched team of Genin and Jonin was all Minato gave them before dropping to the ground and starting the mechanisms of the transportation seal. Slowly, the group disappeared, and Minto felt their arrival at the connecting seal outside Kumo's boundaries.

All he had to do now was wait for word through the Yamanaka telepathy, and the bloodbath would begin. For Ä's sake, Minato sincerely hoped the matter would be solved before any real bloodshed started though.

After all, half-siblings or not, Ä would _always_ come second to Naruko.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Quite a lot of reveals in this chapter; to so to clarify... <em>**

**_A brief moment of nicety to his ninjas means Ä knows absolutely nothing, Naruko... Well, she's getting one nasty dose of negative reinforcement if ever there was one, and Minato has waaaaaay more baggage with Kumo than originally anticipated. _**

**_Next chapter will be Sasuke's P.O.V, possibly some Kurama/Kyuubi too._**

**_Also in this chapter is a hint of my second fave, if relatively non-existent Naruko pairing (guess it, I dare you!). The chapter Quote is from '_The Ruler and The Killer_' by Kid Cudi. It's another Hunger Games song. Seriously - I'm nuts over it, but I still think it should have been a 15 rather than a 12A._**

**_Hope you guys liked the chapter; I liked writing this one, though the electroshock therapy research did moderately sicken me. Can't believe it's still used. That's creepy._**

**_TTFN :)_**


	12. Attack: Part II

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<strong>

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><strong>- - Chapter Twelve - -<br>Attack ~ Part II**

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><p><em>'When I talk you should listen; All of you belong to me. Now what I want is specific;<br>__Respect what I have done for thee,The ruler and the killer baby.'_

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><p>Darui flinched as he stood outside the door of the Lightning therapy room, at the screams.<p>

He flinched again when he heard another one above the static of the Lightning chakra being run through the machinery. He moved away from the door when the air fell silent but for the murmured '_encouragements_' of the psychiatrists.

He paused when hissed denials were given in response, and then the static chakra started to build again, and Darui quickly moved away when the screams started. The screams didn't bother him; he'd heard plenty of screams in the interrogation department, and more than a good deal of them from children. What bothered him was the moments when Naruto was coherent enough to restrain them.

Such stubbornness had only been the worse for its owner in his experience. It wasn't that he was overly comfortable with the idea of brainwashing a child, or torturing one (or as the case was, both), but he couldn't help but wish the little girl would put aside her pride.

He knew that wouldn't happen though - she had an unnaturally high sense of village pride for a child her age. Most Genin weren't so quick to stand up to such treatment.

Two weeks in a dungeon, two weeks of suggestive therapy... And all that without a meal and only titbits of water by her own volition. Did she not realise that by being so stubborn she had just made Karui all the more eager?

Only an Uzumaki would have the vitality to last so long without decent sustenance. Only an Uzumaki would bother to _try_, and yet she persisted in her claims she wasn't an Uzumaki. She had been wearing the crest damn it all!

It was illegal on an international level of law to wear another clan's crest. It was fine to henge, but to actually wear it? No. Konoha was a little mixed up with their Jonin uniforms, but that was the exception to the rule.

There was no way she couldn't be an Uzumaki by logic, but she insisted that she wasn't! She was going to get herself killed or _worse_ at this rate! It didn't bear thinking about, what would happen if the Lightning therapy continued for too long. One dose _alone_ was bad even at a low level...

Darui was all for getting her to stay in the village, they desperately needed more bloodlines as well as a decent sealing programme, but this wasn't the way to go about it!

Did no-one else feel disgusted by this? What to do... He should probably ignore it like he did everything else that repulsed him in the ninja world, but something was telling him it was more trouble than it was worth to be torturing this particular tree-hugger.

There was another scream from inside the room, and Darui did his best to ignore it as he headed down the corridor. The first treatment would be over soon anyway, so why bother? He didn't want Karui finding out he was going over her head if he could avoid it.

She could be as ambitious as she wanted, but Darui was certain there was something off abut that girl, and Ä-sama usually liked to know these things. If he was right, and things turned pear-shaped, then he refused to have this on his head. Besides...

...he didn't like the screaming.

* * *

><p>"Alright Ino, you're our eyes from here on out; get going" Sasuke asked the blonde Genin calmly, and very quietly.<p>

It had taken five hours to get down the mountain from the rendezvous cave to the outskirts of Kumogakure, and in that time they had been lucky enough to avoid the patrols. They were currently hiding in one of the small crevices that ran through the village, on the eastern edge.

Ino gulped at the sudden immense responsibility, but closed her eyes, made a hand sign over her heart, and transferred her mind into the small mouse that they had captured for the purpose.

Letting Sai scratch behind her ears to show that she was in control of the small animal, Ino paused only for a moment before scurrying away up the walls of the small gully and out into the streets of Kumogakure. Sakura took charge then.

"Alright, we're going to split up now, and search in different directions. Tenten, I want you to guard Ino's body. If anyone finds you, you call Ino back and run - use the locator call I taught you, and we'll come help."

Tenten nodded, a very determined nod on her race, and Sasuke rolled his eyes at Sakura's little fangirl (it luckily went unnoticed).

"...Shino, I want you to come with me and search the northern half of the village until Ino contacts us" Sakura ordered, getting another nod from Shino.

"Choji, you'll go with Sasuke and look west. As soon as Ino tells us where we ought to be looking, we all head in that direction. I wouldn't worry about politics either - our job is to find Naruko and to get her back to her father if his talks with the Raikage don't go as planned..." she continued.

Choji looked grim faced; Sasuke suspected that it was only adrenaline that had kept him from braking down about his berserker gene in the past few days

"You don't have to attack anyone on sight, but if it comes down to it, Naruko is more important than anyone you end up fighting" Sasuke murmured in his students ear, hoping that it would change his worries a little.

Judging by Choji's determined expression, it had worked as hoped.

"We should go now; we still need to send the signal for the main force" he said to Sakura.

She rolled her eyes at him, then hugged him; Sasuke glared at her, refusing to return the gesture with more than a pat on the shoulder in front of stupid children.

"Be careful! I'm don't want to bringing you back from sets door like the last time!" she hissed in his ear, jabbing lightly at his gut with a fist.

"Fine, now let go before Choji starts thinking I have friends" he hissed back.; Sakura rolled her own eyes, but let him go, an then jumped up and out of the ravine with Shino.

Sasuke let out a curse before jumping up the ravine himself, Choji hurrying to keep up. They headed in a brisk walk to the centre of the village, Sasuke absently kept up a muttered commentary of how to tell the rank of a Kumo ninja as he considered where to look first.

Even with Ino and Inoichi both investigating with Yamanaka techniques, they needed some sort of clue as to where Naruko would be. Up was a likely area - he knew the jails of Kumogakure all to well, but Naruko would be a special kind of prisoner. She wouldn't be in a normal cell.  
>But how to find out...<p>

Sighting a small inn to one side of the main village square, he headed for it. Choji looked perplexed, but followed all the same.

"What are we doing here Sensei?" he asked.

"Ino can't do everything herself Choji- first lesson on ninjas, we don't look for needles in haystacks unless we have no other choice. Someone is going to know where they keep the normal prisoners, and that's the best place to start..." her replied, opening the door.

"...right now though, I want you to concentrate,and see if any of the people in here look familiar; Kumo has strict drinking laws for ninja, so this is one of two places we can check. I suspect Sakura and Shino will be watching the other. Once we find something..."

"...that's when the fun starts? Choji finished enquiringly.

"Exactly" Sasuke smirked, opening the door to the inn.

* * *

><p>A whole day.<p>

Judging by the set of the sun from her view of the window, that was how many hours had passed since Naruko was wheeled into the treatment room.

They had wheeled her out after three hours in there, and she was still stuck on the hospital-like bed they had tied her down to, muttering all the while about no progress and a second treatment as they did.

Naruko was at a loss of how to get herself out of this mess. She could hardly move. Every time she moved an inch, her muscles and head _burned_. She couldn't quite remember how long she had been here, and she kept falling unconscious.

She kept hearing noises and yells, and if she didn't know that Kumogakure's Lighting tortures sometimes had the added effect of hallucination, she would guess there was a fight going on somewhere.

Kyuubi had told her something during the electrocution, something about putting her mind to sleep to keep it intact, but even that slipped away from her at times. She was aware of pain, haze, and the mocking window above the foot of her bed.

They red-headed bitch had pulled the bed back in, with the blonde assistant to the doctor, and hazy or not, she was sure she had done that deliberately. Naruko would kill her when she got out (and she would get out - they'd let their guard down around her eventually, she could be patient for a while longer).

She would enjoy it too.

Hours passed with her flitting between sleep and hazy alertness; something was nagging at the back of her mind, something familiar. It almost felt like someone was trying to talk to her inside her head, but of course that was impossible.

The only person who could possibly do that was Ino, or maybe her dad (but he didn't like her so much), and she was back home. It prodded and prodded at her, and her head seared at the intrusion. It was painful, and it wasn't doing anything for her, so she tried to block it out.

That made it worse though, and she needed her concentration so she didn't snap when those bastards came back to take her for another treatment. Instead, she stopped blocking the nagging feeling when the door opened and the doctors filed in.

That was when Ino Yamanaka finally managed to snap onto the mental echoes of her mind, and follow them back to her.

* * *

><p>Ino raced under broken crates and through cracks in walls, following the lingering echoes for Sasuke-sensei's mind, and those of Choji.<p>

Possessing a bird might have been quicker, but she would have needed to go to her body to do that, which would waste more time than it would save trying to aim at one properly, and they had wasted enough time already; they had to get to Naruko now.

She couldn't believe she had even managed to follow the faint trails that belonged to Naruko, but she was so disgusted and scared by what her trailing had discovered that she didn't hold much thought about that.

They were _torturing_ her! She had managed to catch a glimpse of what was going on in Naruko's mind for a moment, and it had brought her to tears. Mouse tears perhaps but tears nonetheless.

Even her dad, who was not fond of Naruko at all, and always frowned when she came over to visit despite his friendship with the Hokage, wouldn't have wished that on her. Ino had only heard rumours about Kumo's version of compulsion techniques, but it made her ill to think about what Naruko was experiencing.

She hadn't felt it per-se, but it amounted to the same thing; scrambling over the rocks and under some broken timber that came as a side-effect of the attack of Konoha on Kumo, Ino finally sighted Sasuke-sensei, and she scampered through the legs of frantic Kumo ninjas who were trying to avoid Choji's berserk attacks.

It wasn't the first one Ino had seen the Akimichi berserker gene active; Choji's dad had used it when Kirigakure had tried to kill Hinata and Hanabi during the peace treaty thing when they were in the academy.

It was scary, seeing her cousin be so quick to slit a man's throat though; she wasn't unaware of what being a ninja entailed, but she definitely preferred the subtler side of it. She wasn't a coward, she just found it to be easier to stomach.

Sakura-sensei had said the stomaching the gore would come with time, but lightning torture was a whole different kettle of fish!

She'd seen one of her dad's patients who'd suffered it during his own incarceration; he'd suffered so badly it had taken him two years just to be able to eat with cutlery again! And Kumo was doing the exact same thing to her best friend!

Ino thanked the gods of fire she'd been in the area when that blond guy headed past her, the one with the tattoos on his arm, or she would never have know what was happening, or where to go looking for Naruko's mind!

Finding the village had been easy, but finding Naruto's chakra trail when her chakra had been blocked off was damn near impossible without some sort of clue.

Finally reaching Naruko's teacher, Ino scampered up his leg and onto his shoulder where she could connect her chakra better to his mind and relay the information she needed to.

* * *

><p>Sasuke ducked beneath a large hailstone shower of rocks that had been flung in his direction by a desperate looking Kumo Chunin.<p>

The search for Naruko with simple subvert questioning had proved useless, so when the explosion lit up the mountains in the sky above their heads, he and Choji had dived right into the fight, deciding it better to wait for Ino's search results.

There was lot of commotion at the gates, but Sasuke had seen Lee n his adoptive father charging past him at one point, so he was sure of the safety of his oldest student. As for everyone else, Sakura's Genin team had darted past towards the location of Tenten and Ino's body.

Judging by other loud crashes and collapsing buildings in the direction they had emerged from, Sakura was faring well and had spoken with her students. Sasuke was more focused on is own battles though.

Calling upon a trusty current of lightning, Sasuke slammed his katana into the ground and charged it towards the woman quicker than she could keep up with before turning on a Jonin who had been advancing on Choji.

They met with a series of swift blows; slamming a fist into his gut, Sasuke charged his fists with more lightning, and crashed it into the Jonin's jaw before he could creep up on the (surprisingly) more violent of his students.

As he turned to go help Choji with a dark-skinned blond who looked familiar from somewhere, a small scampering up onto his shoulder alerted him to Ino's presence; the tiny little dormouse leant up to his ear, squeaking even as Ino cast her thoughts into his mind from within the small rodent.

_'They're using lightning treatment on her! They're trying to make her think she's a Kumogakure ninja! She's in the high security hospital for ninjas at the north end of the village, in the psychiatric ward!'_

Sasuke felt two things as Ino's presence faded for his mind and that of the mouse on his shoulder; first a cold chill for the welfare for his only female student, and second a cold rage.

* * *

><p>Ä was a thoroughly confused, angry, and panicked Raikage.<p>

First Darui had come in about that bloodline girl and his concern on the matter; Ä trusted Darui implicitly, so if he was having worries about the matter and had brought it to him, then there was definitely something wrong.

Then his brother had somehow managed to find his village and attack it; he hadn't seen Minato _yet_, but the Hiraishin seal that had appeared on his desk was far too familiar to be mistaken. He'd just been given a report that the seals were appearing all over the village.

In other words, Minato Namikaze had set his whole village up for a massacre, and his invasion force didn't even number fifty; according to the reports, there was a significant number of Genin in the mix that were giving some of the Chunin a hard time!

Konoha had been a pushover before Minato got into the Hokage hierarchy, and apparently he had made a great many changes in the training curriculum for Genin recruits. There was one question that bored into Ä's mind however, and before he could get out into the village to confront his brother himself...

There was a flash of yellow light throughout his office, and the man himself appeared, looking positively thunderous by himself, and twice as intimidating with the Uchiha boy and interrogation pair behind him.

Even Bee and Yugito, who had been guarding his office in place of the ANBU, flinched a little from the dreadful murderous impression the group gave off, and Kumo ninja of their calibre were not so easily intimidated.

"Minato! What's the meaning of this?" Ä demanded angrily, breaking his desk and stomping through it towards his younger half-sibling.

The long-haired Sharingan user and the man in the bandanna flickered, heading for bee and Yugito; Havant them at knife point even as Ä found himself being slammed ferociously into one of his scroll cabinets by Minato (that would be their father's blood showing through).

"Judging by your surprise, I'm guessing you weren't aware of who your latest prisoner was, _Ä_, so I'll explain it for you; that little girl you have locked up in your cells is _my daughter_ - I'm sure you can piece the rest together from there" Minato hissed.

Ä had never been so terrified, or so confounded, as he was at that moment in his entire life.

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><p><em><strong>I'm so sorry for the long update! I've had my final performances for my Drama HNC all week, as well as the practices for it, and I'm behind my paperwork by about... six overdue deadlines? Seven? Eight? Waaay too many *dies* I probably shouldn't be updating at all, but you can only look at the word '<strong>_**analysis**_**' so many times before it starts to make you paranoid...**_

_**In regards to Ä's name, it was originally '**_**Ei**_**' because I was getting confused with his name and the random letter, and I couldn't use '**_**the Raikage**_**' all the time. **_**DamionKenley177**_** suggested using the Greek letter a, and I liked the idea, but a greek letter a looked the same as a latin letter A on my word processor *twitch* so I looked around at other foreign letters, and decided on a German one.**_

_**The only difference between it it and a normal A is the two dots (umlaut) that change the sound to more like the pronunciation of the Raikage's name. It solves my grammar problems and maintains manga authenticity. I googled the pronunciation, checked it on YouTube, and dug out my highschool German textbooks to be sure, but it is pretty close by itself. I think. German users feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.**_

_**Chapter was rushed so apologies for any spelling errors ^^; I want to get on with the rescue and to the timeskip so I can get to the good stuff ;) Beware a pissed of Sasuke next chapter!**_

_**Hope you liked the chapter :)**_  
><em><strong>Nat.<strong>_  
><em><strong>xxx<strong>_

_**Oh, and you guys were right about Darui XD I so want to write a oneshot for that pairing.**_


	13. Attack: Part III

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<strong>

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><strong>- - Chapter Thirteen - -<br>Attack ~ Part II**

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><p>'<em>Listen to me – Keep your mind on the mission; Remember you belong to me.<br>Now, what __I__ want is specific – You putting on a show for me; the ruler and the killer_'.

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><p>The first and second courses of the so called treatment had been bad enough, but a third course was indescribable agony.<p>

Feeling the burning and searing of her already burned and seared muscles and skin, the cuts that had just started healing reopening, was torture. That was all it was. Not persuasion, or encouragement, or medical treatment, or whatever it was claimed to be, but _torture._

Each _'__session__'_ as they called it lasted for hours. Naruko knew it was hours because the sun in her window was always in a different spot when they returned her to her room. Finally, the latest one ended, but a change was made.

The doctors were discussing something, she couldn't hear what, but probably their lack of real progress. Naruko was delirious half the time, and she forgot some things sometimes, but throughout the electrocutions she kept the though of her home in her mind.

She concentrated on the faces of her team-mates, Ino and Tenten, her dad, and Sasuke's. They were all familiar, and helped to keep her resolve up. That kept her going through it; she forgot a few other things, like the whereabouts of her house, at times but not those faces.

The doctors stopped talking then, and after some urges from Karui, who had been there to watch every single session, and the medics started to weave a few hand signs above her. All of a sudden she was soaked in water from head to toe.

Water? _Water?_ No. No, no, no, no, no! They were going to _kill_ her! The water would make it _worse!_ It would help the lightning along and make it ten times worse! She had to get _out!_ She couldn't move, and her muscles and skin were seared and blistered, so she'd never escape as it was, but she _never_ survive that!

Even someone with her strength of life force wouldn't be able to survive this after abstaining from food and avoiding water when she could. Desperate adrenaline began to fill her, and she yanked on her restraints, struggling against pain to free herself.

She ignored the pain and strained as hard as she could, and more than any doctor would have advised her to, but she couldn't do it. She was too weak. The tactic that had kept her alive for so long had turned on her, and when the doctors restarted the lightning...

She couldn't think of anything; she just screamed and screamed, hoping to the gods something came to interrupt or something stopped them, because she couldn't fight against this level of pain.

As she had feared, it consumed her; vaguely she thought she heard the Kyuubi's voice, but she bocked it out. That was to only way she could think of to stay remotely sane.

Block everything out.

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><p>Sasuke bolted through the streets of Kumogakure, Ino's mouse-paws clinging to his hair as she sat on his head giving him directions towards the hospital.<p>

Choji he had sent on to Gai, knowing that he would only slow him down; time had run out days ago if what Ino told him was correct. It didn't take long for him to wind through the fighting. He was already fast, and he was augmenting his speed with his lightning chakra to add a bit more speed to it.

He wasn't Minato Namikaze by any means, but he was _much_ faster than the average ninja, and with the Sharingan predicting possible blockages to his path for him, he avoided fights and dead ends according to the directions Ino was giving him.

Twenty minuets after starting, they finally reached the hospital, on the complete opposite side of town where Sakura met up with them (thanks again to Ino's telepathic techniques).

"Hokage-sama has broken into the Raikage's office. Once we find her, we get her out of here. _Immediately_; the closer we get her to Konoha the better. Ino can tell her father. She'll need medical attention, more than what I can give her here" Sakura said worriedly, absently healing a gash on his arm – a side effect of being teammates for so long.

"She'll need some treatment Sakura; I can promise you that. For one thing, you'll have to take the chakra seals of her. The Kyuubi won't be healing her like it should..." Sasuke grunted; if Ino was puzzled by the Kyuubi comment, she had the sense not to ask.

Darting round the corner with Sakura and the mouse passenger, Sasuke and his companions managed to slip through the panicked crowds of people in their Kumo-like disguises and into the hospital.

There were nurses, doctors, and medics rushing around everywhere, tending to injured Kumogakure ninjas; apparently Gai and his father had done a good job in seeing off the forces that had blocked them at the gate.

"Alright Ino, which way?" Sasuke muttered, pretending to be glancing following a crowd that had just entered through the emergency doors, Sakura close behind him.

'I don't know - I got flashes of where they were, and I remembered where it was from looking around the village, but I didn't get a proper look of the inside. All Naruko saw of the way in was the ceiling, and I can't possess one of the doctors with my body so far away!' Ino replied, sounding frantic.

"Head up – the higher security wards will be up towards the top of the mountain; we'll figure the rest out from there. Ino, you return to your body and then hurry back here – I'll wait for you. We need to sort an escape so we can get Naruko out once we find her, and you're the only telepath who's handy" Sakura said after he had reported Ino's message to her.

Ino did as she was told, and Sasuke left Sakura to her own devices – she'd probably have Ino follow his chakra when she returned.

Darting down the halls, he mixed in well until he bumped into someone Sasuke knew all too well; the dark skin and shaggy blonde hair along with the black lightning tattoo on his arm were easy indicators of Darui's presence.

The Kumo ninja's eyes landed on him, and Darui paled; immediately, Sasuke _knew_ that the man had the information he wanted. Before sense could stop him, he slammed the man into the wall by the throat in a bruising.

"Where is she Darui? Where's Naruko?" he hissed.

"Who-"

Sasuke flickered his static chakra around Darui's neck for a few moments.

"You now _exactly_ who I mean; the blonde girl your damned Raikage's plant kidnapped – _my student!_ Tell me where she _is_ Darui, unless you want me to give the Hokage more cause to reduce this village to rubble!" he hissed, continuing the lightning treatment – a taste of it might help '_persuade'_ him.

Darui struggled against his grip, his mind clearly racing to try and figure the quickly building facts into place.

"The Hokage...? Why would... _No!_"

"_Y__es_ Darui; you idiots have been torturing the Hokage's daughter – now _where is she?_"

"Bottom floor – if someone escapes, they always run down..." he gasped, voice hoarse.

Darui continued to gasp as he massaged the bruises on his throat whilst he dropped to the floor; Sasuke was already gone.

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><p>Ä stared at his younger sibling aghast, then pushed him off, trying to process what he had just been told rationally.<p>

There had only been one girl who had been in the dungeons as of late, and that was the Uzumaki child Karui had brought back with her. She'd pleaded with the promise of good news not to interfere. As one of Bee's students, he had trusted her to used sound judgement but...

Gods of Lightning, he'd let her take _his own niece_ into torture-based rehabilitation treatments. She'd... He was a _fool!_ Was he so trusting of his ninja that he would bring hell down on his own village?

Apparently, he was. Darui had warned him, begged him to stop what he was allowing in his own way. Ä had shrugged it of as Darui worrying too much again. He thought he had simply grown too attached to the girl.

It wasn't hard to do in the case of children, especially the girls. Ä would admit that much.

"Minato, I _swear_ I... I thought she was one of the refugees from after the war! I've not even set eyes on her! You know where my attitudes on ninja life end! If I'd known she was-"

"Of _course_ I know that, but it doesn't excuse the fact that you let it happen Ä! I'm inches close to slaughtering your village because of your stupidity! How on earth did you manage to let this slip by you?" Minato roared.

Ä groaned in frustration, dreading his own reply.

"I sent Karui and Omoi into Konoha on a surveillance mission for their internal Chunin promotion. We haven't had much information on Konoha's growth since you took your seat... I also wanted more information on you-"

"You have the nerve to blame this on _me?_ I don't contact you for a reason Ä! If anyone knew we were related we'd have a national insurrection, and now you tell me the reason you've been _torturing my little girl_ is because you wanted a _family reunion?_" Minato raged quietly, his voice almost hissing his displeasure.

"Of course not! But you haven't sent word to me since Kushina died Minato! It was a simple mission - that's _all!_ I though Karui had more brains than to do what she did – obviously I was wrong!"

Before anyone could retort, a new woman in Kumo attire appeared at the window; she was clearly a Konoha ninja however. Ä would have remembered a woman with pink hair. Across her shoulder was a slack form that Ä recognised as Karui.

She clambered in and dropped the unconscious redhead onto the floor in the middle of the room, before kneeling in front of Minato.

"Hokage-sama; we found Naruko underneath the hospital. The side of the cliff was blown out and Sai collected her and Sasuke for flight back to Konoha several minuets ago. Tsunade-sama was with them, and will be attending to her this minuet" she reported.

"And this woman? What have you brought her here for?" Minato asked acidly; he obviously recognised Karui.

"Considering what your daughter suffered at what appeared to be her urgings, I thought... '_compensation_' would be appropriate" she replied, an nasty tone in her voice.

"It was that bad?" Minato asked shakily.

"From my initial exam I believe frequent lightning treatments were used on her before this woman in particular started enhancing them with water as a conductor. She has signs of malnutrition, so I believe she turned away food in the time it took us to arrive. I believe that she also attempted escape, as the resulting injuries on her wrists come from lengthy physical restrain and confinement after such attempts. They were too tight."

Minato paled with rage, and Ä prayed to the gods he could come out of this. He knew he should be attacking, driving Minato out of his village but... He had allowed one of his own to torture his own niece. He couldn't see a way out of that.

"What else?" Minato demanded, sneering at Karui.

"...it took Sasuke... _some_ time to calm her sir. She didn't recognise him by sight, but luckily her little obsession turned out to be worth more than we thought. She couldn't speak, and I think it will take a lot of recovery before she trusts anyone again..."

'_I__f at all...__'_ Ä thought to himself. He'd seen what happened to people lightning therapy didn't work on, and it was not something he enjoyed seeing. The thought of it happening to a child, one of his _own_ blood was horrifying.

He glanced at bee; he already knew that handing Karui over was the biggest compensation they could give their brother, but bee was her teacher. Bee wasn't even looking at her, he had turned his back and was giving Ä a reassuring glance.

"If that's what you want you can have her Minato" Ä informed his brother, almost too quickly.

Minato nudged her over with his foot, and sneered in amusement; it was a rare face from what he remembered of their childhood. Minato was fairly easygoing but he didn't forgive and forget without equal treatment either.

"Maybe she will serve her use yet Ä; if Naruko doesn't want her, I can guarantee her teacher will... But I'm afraid that won't suffice for me. Your stupidity is what caused this, so you should be the one to take the consequences..." he snarled, gesturing for the man with the ponytail to pick up Karui.

Glancing out through the window, Minato stared at the sprawling buildings of Kumogakure.

"Tell your ninjas to surrender Ä, then have your citizens gather in the town centre. Don't miss a single one. We're going to make an announcement" Minato ordered coldly.

Ä had no idea what to do but to follow.

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><p>Sasuke darted down the halls, and finally he reached the stairs; his feet slammed onto them, joining the myriad of eerie echoes that came with dungeons of such a kind.<p>

The stairs went down and down and down, and Sasuke wondered if they had more stairs beyond the bottom level, to give their prisoners false hope when they escaped and thought going down would rescue them like it would from a usual cell.

It wasn't dark but there was grim grey colours to the walls; seeing an electric yellow stripe along one corridor, Sasuke felt a sickening feeling in his gut, but followed it, and darted down the corridor. One doctor tried to block his way; he was cut down as Sasuke passed him with a kunai across his throat.

Sasuke didn't even register his face. He was running on cold fury, hated, anger, the aspects of his personality that were particularly unpleasant to behold or be on the receiving of even in a more pleasant bar-room brawl.

Several more people tried to stop him, and that told him he was getting close; people wouldn't try to get in the way of a ninja unless there was something to hide. The second man fell to his sword blade. The thirds a snapped neck. One had a broken back. He set anther on fire with a fireball and let him scream himself to cinders.

It didn't do any good on calming his rage, because they weren't directly responsible – they were just in his way by coincidence. The corridor was a long one, and by the look of the windows, ran alongside the cliff side beneath Kumogakure.

It was endless, a long line, and Sasuke was halfway along it when he realised what the echo was; it was the mix of crying and screaming that only came from torture. Torture of one of those '_stubborn ones_'. A bright light flickered from one of the doers a long way down, and then a clear scream rang through the walls.

Sasuke couldn't distinguish his feet moving at this point. His head was filled with that scream. Naruko's screaming. He'd never heard her scream before. He's seen her snivelling a bit, but there was a difference between that and real crying like this he could hear as he ran for the room.

He knew it would be difficult; he had planned to slaughter every last Kumo in who got in his way, but he had to remember the priorities he had given Ino and the other Genin. Naruko was more important. It was impossible that she would come out of this with out some sort of mental scarring.

Impossible. No one was that strong willed, and in reality, Naruko wasn't all that sure of herself. She put up a bratty, bitchy, bad-mouthed front to hide it, but she was horrifically insecure. He _had_ to get her _out_. She needed to go_ home_. She should _never_ have been in this position...

If she hadn't stormed off like that, if he hadn't been so god-damned angry for worrying when that first Kumo ninja tried to cart her off...

He shook the thoughts away. There was time or self-blaming later – first he had to get through this door. The so-called high security seals of Kumo were rather pathetic. It didn't even have an absorption character! All he had to do was overload the chakra in it, and that was what he did.

The door slammed open as that awful scream filled the room again; no one noticed Sasuke's presence at first, and he absorbed the scene.

Two of the doctors had hold of her arms, another pair her legs, and the bright yellow white crackles that darted over Naruko's skin chilled the back of his neck. The fifth red headed woman who seemed to be bolstering their efforts with water made him sick to his stomach.

Then he caught sight of his student, and Sasuke had to ignore his opinions if he were to be of any help. The treatment had been going on for some time, judging by the cuts and gashes and burns that had been left on her.

He didn't think about the screaming or the desperate contortions, a subconscious bid for escape. Instead he slit he throats of the two men at her feet, stabbing them from the back through their stomach for good measure as Sakura finally caught up and lunged at the red headed woman with bare fists.

By some miracle Ino was following her, and sent a Shinranshin to the remaining two, forcing them to kill each other, allowing Sasuke to get to the head of the table whilst Ino scrambled to untie the restraints.

Naruko was still screaming and raging and crying, completely incoherently, and she kicked Ino into a wall after one ankle restraint was undone; scrambling to her side, Sasuke forced her to look at him, not even flinching at a vicious bite on his hand. Or her head, which was shaking with writhed protests against the hold on it.

"Naruko... Naruko, _look at me_... Look at me, there's no one else here. It's _me_. It's Sasuke, I'm your Sensei, remember? Jerk-face-sensei..." he murmured, running a hand through her hair; it looked awful – had they been back home she'd have had a heart attack at the mere suggestion of it being so unkempt.

He didn't know why she was so attached to it, but he hoped to the gods he'd still be able to find out. Naruko's eyes, usually full of guile, mischief, and future headaches for him, were darting everywhere. Terrified of everything. She screamed at every soothing gesture he tried, or cried, or both. Mostly both.

God, what had he let Kumo do to her?

"...Naruko, you're safe now. I'm taking you back home... Your dad's worried about you, so I have to take you home, back to Konoha-"

The screaming, which had slowly been fading, started all over again, as did her attempts to run away. He couldn't imagine how much pain that was causing her – the movement that was. He guessed it might be all that she was responding to was her own fear and survival instinct. Pain was so secondary that it took a secondary place concern...

"Sasuke, I can't take the chakra seals off her unconscious! You have to calm her down!" Sakura called hurriedly, panic in her voice.

Sasuke glanced at her; Sakura had caught the redhead, and Sasuke felt his killing urge rise. He sight of Karui, unconscious to Sakura's feet as she was restrained herself. Then he turned his attention back to Naruko.

Sakura was right; he needed to calm her down long enough for Sakura to take the seals off her before they could knock her out and get her back to Konoha hospital... Turning back to the screaming girl, Sasuke forced her to look at him as gently as he could.

He considered using the Sharingan, but he didn't know what extra damage it would do to her than had already been done, manipulating her mind like that. Itachi was the interrogator, not him. He had to go with the basic relationship they had instead and hoped that worked instead.

"Naruko, listen to me..." he murmured quietly, calmly as his own shaky voice would let him.

He'd kill every single Kumo he met again for this. Every last one. He'd never get to Karui – Naruko should have that privilege. But he'd kill as many as he could in her stead for this.

"...I know you're scared of everything right now, but I'm _not_ going to hurt you. I _promise_ – it's me, _Sasuke_. You're _safe_ with me..." he continued.

He didn't know why he chose to leave off the Sensei that time, but he was sure that was what worked. It wasn't much, but she stopped struggling to hare a him mistrustfully through the pained tears that had by now glazed her face.

"...I promise, you're safe now. Choji and Lee and Ino all came looking for you with your dad. We won't let _anyone_ near you. I _promise_..." he repeated, taking advantage of a moment of stillness and kissing her cheek.

With it a new expression came across her face, and the attempts to free her wrists turned a little more feeble. Glancing at her Sasuke didn't know if he should do it again or hang his head in his hands; right across he face was a dark blush. It was visible even on her red tear-glazed face.

Even scared beyond her wits, she still had that stupid little crush to get embarrassed over. Quickly, but calmly so not to alarm her again, Sasuke gestured to Ino (who had been spring loaded with worry as she watched) and they removed the restraints.

He moved to pick her up, and Naruko punched him in he eye, trying to dart off the able. With Ino's help he was able to catch her before she managed to run away, and held her, enduring the punches and kicks and bites.

"...Naruko, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. There no-one here who's going to hurt you any more... I promise, I won't let that happen to you _ever_ again...Do you trust me?" he asked her, moving back down to her eye level as he managed to sit her on the edge of the metal table.

Naruto flinched, shaking he head and flicking her eyes around again fearfully. Biting his lip, Sasuke lifted a hand and slowly touched the spot in her cheek where he'd kissed her. There was a cut just above it. A small burn-like cut.

Naruko stilled again, and raised her fingers. Her fingers touched the top of his own, then they jerked off. She stared at him again, then fresh tears started as she curled into a ball, one of her thin fists reaching out for his shirt as she shifted towards him.

Slowly, and carefully, he picked her up and sat down with her on the floor, holding her close and running his fingers through here hair, a silent glance to Sakura to say she should approach, quietly, Naruko flinched when Sakura first tried to take of the chakra seals on her, but after some more calm encouragement, they were off.

"Ino, make sure Sai and Tsunade are waiting outside for you; I'll open up the wall so you and Sasuke can can get out" Sakura instructed, healing one of the larger wounds on Naruto's arm as best she could.

"Damn it these are already infected..." she muttered as Ino quickly formed a set of hand seals and took a meditative position.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked, following Sakura's motions and slowly rising to his feet with Naruko as the pink-haired woman kept up her healing.

"You're an ex-ANBU – you _know_ the problems that come for Minato dealing with the Raikage Sasuke. He won't kill him, but we need some sort of compensation. I'm taking her to him as a '_formal'_ suggestion..." Sakura snarled, gesturing to the unconscious redhead.

Sasuke _almost_ felt sorry for Karui; healer or not, Sakura had trained with him and his brother beneath Morino Ibiki. She haven't focused into the T&I department, but they had all trained there, and Sakura knew the human body inside out. Karui was going to suffer before she even saw a Konoha jail cell.

Heading out not the corridor, Sakura left Naruko for a moment to blow a hole in the outer side of the rock. It opened to a vast, plummeting canyon, but Sakura was giving Ino an inquiring glance instead.

"They're here!" she informed Sakura assuredly.

Glancing out of the new window, Sasuke spotted the huge white ink-owl that was swooping towards them. Tsunade-sama was seated on its back, Ibiki's socially challenged son guiding it towards the vast hole in the wall.

Quickly, Sasuke and Ino jumped onto the back (Ino greeting her teammate with a vicious hug before going to pieces over a bleeding cut on his forehead), and then they swooped away from his sister-in-law (Sasuke didn't quibble about the lack of marriage).

With one last glance at Sakura, Sasuke handed the now unconscious girl in his arms over to Tsunade's care as the sped through the air towards Konoha. Glancing down, Sasuke could see the final accent of the invasion taking shape.

Sai halted the owl for a moment to watch as the forces of Konoha gathered the citizens of Kumogakure into the streets, the ninja's held back on order of their very own leader. Ä had emerged on the roof of the Hokage's office with Minato.

"_I'm sure many of you are wondering why myself and my ninja have chosen to attack you – well, here is your answer. Kumogakure has slighted Konoha, and while past generations may have sat by and watched, I will not. Your Raikage has no means to stop me because it on his own head. I'm sure he will enlighten the details to you after the compensation has been paid..."_

The Hokage's voice boomed throughout the surrounding valley and spires of the mountains that grew around the village. Then, an almighty yellow flash lit up the ground beneath them and every single building crumbled to pieces.

Amidst the flash, all the Konoha ninjas had disappeared, leaving only a shattered village in their wake. That day went down in history as the day Konohagakure brought Kumogakure to its knees with a vastly inferior force, with zero fatalities.

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><p><em><strong>Extra Looooooong chapter this time guys. I haven't done any creative writing or writing for fun all week because of overdue essays. I wrote ten 1000+ word essays in three days, and had a Shakespeare monologue to do. Nothing to be proud of really... procastrination is a bitch.<strong>_

_**anyway, I was dying from writing-withdrawal (it's like working people have caffine withdrawal, but about fifty times worse), so I've been sitting by the plug, tapping away on my iPad for two days typing this. I wanted to get out of Kumo. Things have been set up as I needed them (probably) so the next few chapter will be Naruko's training and recovery process, then we'll magically timeskip and get to the good stuff XD *nudge-nudge* *wink-wink***_

_**Hope this satisfies any burning hatreds of Kumogakure. On that note, I was blown away by how much you guys piled on the KaruiHATE! I love karui (because she suits Kiba so much better than Hinata IMO), but I needed a villianish-person, and she just fits the role. **_

_**Mostly because she isn't a softie ninja. Unlike a certain canon blonde I could mention with his magic peace-no-jutsu... Don't get me wrong, I love canon, but Naruto is starting to become the kind of Uke-Naruto I despise - the reason I write gender-benders in the first place... the kind that is sadly so popular amongst the Naruto fandom...**_

_**Beh, off topic. Hope you guys liked the chapter. Expect Daddy-Daughter fluff and Sasu-chan history/student fluff next time :D**_  
><em><strong>Nat.<strong>_  
><em><strong>xxx<strong>_


	14. Interlude: Part I Healing

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><strong>- - Chapter Fourteen - -<br>****Interlude ~ Part I**

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><p><em>'If I don't say this now I will surely break,as I'm leaving the one I want to take. Forgive the urgency,<br>__but hurry up and wait; my heart has started to separate. Baby, baby, I'll look after you.'_

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><p>The matter of taking Naruko to the hospital did not occur, or if it had, it had been too brief for Sasuke to remember.<p>

Having heard his description of her initial state of mind, Tsunade had quickly ordered Sai to take Naruko to her own room. Sasuke agreed wholeheartedly; the last thing Naruko needed was waking up in another hospital room.

Something more familiar would be better. If that was Tsunade's advice, he would be stupid to argue with her. And so, after Sai had landed them on the roof of the Hokage mansion, Sasuke carried Naruko down through the halls behind Tsunade to the door with the bright door sign, proclaiming her ownership of the room beyond it.

Naruko's room was a bright one; yellow walls and full of plants in on corner. One, a small recently potted plant with violet flowers, he knew to be used in poisons. In one of the walls was a glass tank - empty for the moment, but clearly for some kind of animal.

The bookcase was chock-a-block with scrolls and books on dealings and wind techniques and other basic ninja techniques, and stood beside an overflowing supply cabinet of kunai, shuriken, trap wire, and other necessities.

Right alongside the window was her bed, stuffed with blankets an pillows and stuffed toy frogs. At one end against the opposite wall beside the plants, was a desk and chair. After depositing Naruko into Tsunade's hands again, Sasuke sank onto the floor.

Now that he had a moment to stop thinking of getting Naruko put, home, or simply finding her, or calming her down, he was exhausted from all the worry and concern. Sakura had sent a summon on the journey to report what had happened in the Raikage's office, and he didn't know how to take it.

That little bitch had tortured Naruko just because she might get an easy promotion out of it. _A promotion_. Naruko would be lucky if she was still _sane_, lucky if she could trust anyone _again_, all because that little bint wanted a _promotion_.

He felt sick with rage, but took comfort in that fact that, one way or another, the redhead would get what she deserved; a slow, painful, tortured death.

"Sasuke, come here for a moment. I need your help with something..."

Sasuke was on his feet and beside her a before she had finished her sentence; she had changed Naruko into her pyjamas, a yellow t-shirt and shorts with frogs and cartoon flies printed on them, a larger one on the shirt. Some of her wounds had been healed, though some had simply been wrapped up - those were probably the infected ones or the worst of the burns.

She looked a lot calmer back in casual clothing. If he hadn't seen it, Sasuke would have thought she was just curled up for a decent night's sleep after a mission.

"I need you to take a look at her eyes Sasuke, and tell me again what she was like when you found her" Tsunade instructed quietly.

He repeated everything he'd told her, and after a thoughtful frown from the woman, she nodded for him to continue.

Kneeling down, Sasuke slowly peeled back one of Naruko's eyelids, and took a look at one of her eyes with his Sharingan (it was the only reason Tsunade would ask him to look) and frowned when her pupil didn't react. Even in a deep sleep, there should have been a reaction.

"There's no reaction from her pupils at all, and there's only the least amount of chakra going to them..." he muttered.

"I don't suppose you know what her relationship with the Kyuubi is, do you?" Tsunade asked.

"As far as I've seen? It seems to be '_you ignore me and I'll ignore you_' for the most part" he shrugged.

"That's strange... I would have thought it was a bit better than that - are you _really_ sure they don't talk?" she asked again; Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"She doesn't really talk about it much. It's not exactly a topic to bring up in conversation, what with the villagers... Why?" he asked

"Because I've seen something like this before, with my grandmother, Naruto's mother too. When my grandmother knew she was dying, she prolonged her life by... It was _almost_ like being in a coma, but she could pull out of it when she needed to. But she didn't have the body function to maintain it herself, even with the Uzumaki bloodline..."

"And Naruto's mother?" Sasuke asked, curiously.

"It was after her first four-tailed transformation. She controlled it well, but she killed a _lot_ of people, couldn't handle the emotional side. After a couple of days she collapsed, and woke up a week later with a much better handle of things..." Tsunade replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed and pulling the covers over the blonde girl.

Well, usually blonde girl; the runny black colour in her hair was evidence of either a cover up or a failed escape attempt. Some of it seemed to have faded after the treatment she'd endured.

Sasuke paid more attention to the pattern that was being raised however.

"Are you saying this is the same thing? That the Kyuubi is actually _helping_ her?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

He struggled to wrap his mind around that; as far as he remembered from his ancestor's meddling in Naruto's birth, the Kyuubi was a very, very, very angry demon. The thought of it helping it's prison guard, for whatever reason, was absolutely... It was... Strange. Very strange.

"I think only for the sake of self preservation, but yes. To be honest, when I got to her, the Kyuubi had already started healing most of the damage, since the chakra seals had been removed. What was left would have been enough to drive her insane, but if she recognised you when you found her..." Tsunade said with another frown of hard thought.

Sasuke hadn't thought of that. Had her injuries had been that bad when he found her? He hoped to gods that Karui would get her just deserts. If Naruko couldn't think of anything, he'd gladly give her some suggestions.

He remembered Ibiki's methods for giving him and his team-mates an iron stomach - namely making them watch as many of the more gruesome tortures in the T&I department until they could do so without vomiting (Ibiki had been fond of _'practical teaching'_). There was one that involved the intestines that felt particularly fitting for the little slag...

But this Kyuubi theory was very intriguing. If a little disturbing.

"...I think it has something to do with the Uzumaki bloodline. The Kyuubi is much closer to his hosts than the other biju hosts I've seen. They heal their hosts, but the Kyuubi can protect the mind of his hosts, whereas the others. I can't be sure though, because the Kyuubi has always been inside an Uzumaki, and their sealing was always much more proficient than other countries. It may simply be that..." Tsunade finished, healing one of the burns on Naruko's cheek.

Sasuke considered the idea, bit didn't get very far with it; before he could, Naruto's father burst through the door. Sasuke quickly moved out of his way and watched as he near collapsed, examining her sleeping face carefully.

"Tsunade, how is sh-"

"Minato, calm down - she's asleep for the moment. Most of the wounds have already been healed by the Kyuubi, the bad ones, but I think that's all it could manage... I did most of the work myself. She has a infection, I need to get the medicine from the hospital but..."

Sasuke left the room - he'd come back some other time. He didn't want to intrude on such a personal moment.

* * *

><p>"You called sir?" Sasuke asked, entering through the main door of the Hokage mansion.<p>

It was three in the morning, and he'd had to run over the rooftops in his boxer shorts, black vest and the purple zip-up shirt he wore when he was wandering around is flat or off duty. He'd fallen asleep on the sofa every night this first week back, just in case something happened.

"I did... Naruko woke up an hour ago but... Well, she's exactly as you said she was when you first found her. It's only the seals on the house that are keeping her in her room... I wouldn't ask but..."

Minato frowned over his words, struggling to get them out. Sasuke felt a great deal of sympathy for the man. The only reason he could think of for being present would be that Naruko didn't recognise him. Her own father. Sasuke would have thought she would have recognised him at least...

"You don't have to sir - she's my student. I'll help however I can" he said quietly; Minato gave him a worn, grateful smile, and led him up the stairs to Naruko's room.

Tsunade was talking outside with Inoichi Yamanaka, who was stubbornly shaking his head at her suggestions.

"...can't just _wander_ into her mind Tsunade-sama! As she is, her mind is too fragile to stand direct external chakra intruding on it. She'll snap before I even get a chance to find out what needs fixing!"

Sasuke watched Minato flinch as he opened the door, but turned his attention to the matter he had just been tasked with.

Closing the door behind him, he was unprepared for the quick footed lunge of self defence. Quickly catching the two small fists two the wrists, Sasuke narrowly avoided a kunai in the back.

Naruko glared and hissed and shared and screamed as she struggled to get her hands back; Sasuke quickly pulled the kunai from her fingers, then knelt own to he eye level, still keeping a firm hold of her.

"Naruko, calm down. You're safe, you're back home. You recognise me don't you? I'm Sasuke" he said calmly, slowly slackening his grip as she exchanged outright panic for consideration.

For a moment she looked confused, then she did something odd; she lifted her hands and mixed her fingers through his hair, mussing it up with interest, like she had never done so at least a hundred times before.

It took a great deal of patience to let her run her fingers through it, force it to stick up at odd angles and on one occasion sniff it curiously. Finally, she found whatever she had liked about it before, and slumped over his back burying her face in the back of his head.

"Naruko, do you trust me?" he asked patting on of the hand gripping his shoulders; Naruko paused before giving a stiff nod.

"There are a few of people outside, they want to help you. The lady can get rid of your burns and make you feel better. If I stay with you, will you let them try?" he asked.

He didn't get a nod or a shake of the head, so he took that as uncertainty.

"I won't let them hurt you like the other people did - I promise. I'll stay here so they can't try anything" he reassured.

Finally he got a nod, and with a slow flare of his chakra to signal that it was safe to come in, Tsunade opened the door. She raised an eyebrow at the odd scene, and Sasuke glared at her, daring her to comment on his methods for calming the girl down (or Naruko's as the case was).

She said nothing however, and approached with cautious steps so she didn't alarm the girl and start her off all over again. Naruko poked her eyes out at her, then gripped his shoulder a little tighter.

"Naruko, this is Tsunade. She's a doctor. She can get rid of some of your burns - I won't let her hurt you. I promise" he introduced.

Naruko stepped a little closer to the blonde woman with the introduction, and then the started the slow, agonising process of getting Naruko to drink one of Tsunade's medicines. Finally. After drinking it himself to show it didn't do any harm, she finally took it.

It immediately started soothing her back to sleep, and after handing her over to her father, Sasuke made himself comfortable on the floor beside her bed. He got the feeling he was going to be spending lot of time here till Naruko recovered.

With the overwhelming guilt for making her leave camp, for not being quick enough to notice Karui's irregularities sooner, Sasuke did not complain in the slightest when Naruko woke up screaming two hours later.

Instead, he simply calmed her down again, and hoped to the gods that Inoichi and Tsunade came up with something to help her soon.

* * *

><p>When Naruko woke up, she immediately knew she wasn't awake. For one thing, her hair was blonde again, and she was dressed in her normal clothes.<p>

Another prime indicator was the fact that she could move a finger without injuring every muscle in her body, also were the bars and the murky water sloshing around her waist and legs where she sat on the floor.

_'I see you are awake again.'_

Naruko glanced around, and jerked back in shock at the sight of the large cage behind her. Then she saw the giant fox behind it, and let out an involuntary scream. The fox snorted at her reaction, and with the familiar derision, her nerves settled.

_'Kurama?'_ Naruko asked.

_'Obviously'_ the animal grunted irritably.

He was slumped up against his cage doors, muzzle rested on his paws; he looked thin, and worn. Kind of like Ino when her metabolism had splurged a load of weight on her and she'd trained ten hours straight to try and get rid of it (how she managed it with the same Akimichi metabolism as her mother was still a mystery though).

_'Where... How long... What?'_

_'You are back in Konoha. You have been asleep for four weeks, or rather your conscious mind has. You woke up in a with the mind of a daikon radish quite a few times though. That was certainly an amusing sight, if nothing else'_ the fox explained, grumbling with terse patience.

Daikon Radish? Oh, he meant like she didn't have a brain at all. Ok. That... wasn't good. Her dad was probably freaking out - she hoped he was at any rate. And Ino and Choji. Ino would be stuffing her face and getting weight like crazy, and Choji had probably broken something training. Lee... She didn't quite know what he would be doing.

Sasuke-sensei might be a little worried, but he'd probably be expecting her to be back at training by the end of the month. _'I refuse to have a daikon radish for a student'_ he was probably saying. Heartless git.

_'Why have I been asleep so long?'_ she asked.

_'Because if you hadn't been, you would have been _worse_ than a daikon radish. You should be honoured I stepped in when I did'_ he muttered, yawning on his last word.

Naruko blinked as she took in the implications of the Kyuubi's sleepy mutters; he'd _helped _her! She remembered now! He said he was going to protect her mind and he did! She didn't really understand how, or why he had even bothered, but she wasn't stupid.

Her ass had been saved by the fuzzbucket.

Wading through the water, she climbed up one of the bars, then leaned through, and scratched him behind a very large ear; Kurama said nothing, but a noise like a purr in the back of his throat told her the scratching was _very_ much appreciated.

She'd have to stop leaving the deep fried tofu that came with her Ramen for Choji. Foxes were supposed to like it, and she owed him. Maybe he'd be able to eat it if she did. Besides, he was kind of nice, in a bloodthirsty kind of way sometimes, but still. Nobody was _that_ perfect.

_'Thanks Kurama'_ she said quietly.

The Kyuubi grunted, then shuffled closer to the bars so she could scratch his ear better.

'_You're welcome. I had wondered how long it would take for you to learn manners. Go away - the black and yellow ones are rather anxious for you to wake up. Besides, I'm sleepy, and you're annoying in large doses.'_

Naruko snorted as she blinked; when she opened them again, she was _awake_.

* * *

><p>The first thing Naruto saw upon opening her eyes were the walls of her bedroom; the first thing she felt was being warm. Slowly, she sat up, and found the source of the warmth.<p>

She was mostly snug in a blanket, one of her old ones she put on her bed for when the weather was bad; drastic weather changes were not pleasant for her, something suspected was another Kyuubi side-effect. Rain made her cold, shivery, snappish and altogether unpleasant.

The blanket was not the only thing keeping her warm though.

Slumped on his side, right against he wall and looking rather sleepy even in sleep, was Sasuke. He was out of his Jonin uniform - which she had never seen before - in a pair of green trousers, a black vest and purple collared zip-shirt, and he was slumped against a pillow stuffed into the corner.

It took her a moment to align herself with her surroundings, to remember the fuzziness that was her time in the cells and lab rooms of Kumogakure. She didn't remember much, and to be honest, she was _glad_ she didn't. It just felt strange to be missing such a large chunk of time...

Seeing her teacher so casually slumped on one side of her bed was weird too. He was on top of the covers, but still... Sasuke usually looked half-scary in the Jonin jacket and his katana on his back. She'd never seen him in casual clothing before.

Her slight movement must have jostled him, because his eyes snapped open, and he sat up groggily.

"What's wrong? Are you hungry? Did Tsunade-sama come in again? I know you don't like her but she's nice. She's a doctor. She's helping, honest. I _know_ you not like the needles, but she isn't trying to hurt you deliberately..." he mumbled, yawning and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Baa-chan?" Naruko asked, still a little bewildered; her word choice seemed to have had an effect on him though - he was suddenly very alert.

"Baa... Baa-chan? You remember her? Naruko, do you remember Tsunade-sama?" he asked, suddenly very alert; one hand reached up and pulled a set of fingers through the strands of hair that framed her face, in what she guessed was a soothing gesture.

"Sensei? What are you _doing?_ Where's my dad?" she asked, a little confused by the rare show of Genin-affection from her teacher.

Sasuke gawked at her, apparently stunned by something.

"Naruko?" he asked.

"Where's my dad? I'm... When did... Where's my dad?" she asked again, not really answering his question; who else was she supposed to be anyway?

"He's talking to Tsunade; do you want me to go get him?" Sasuke asked; Naruko nodded vigorously, but before she could say anything else, she was suddenly warm again as Sasuke hugged her.

She was so shocked she forgot to be embarrassed, and instead just returned the gesture, feeling very glad to be home. She didn't know _how_ she got back, or if someone had come to find her after all, but she wasn't too bothered. She was _home_ - that was all that mattered.

Sasuke left, and returned moments later with her father; he was thinner than usual, had bags under his eyes, and looked half dead. The best she could say about his appearance was that at least he was clean.

He approached her a little warily, which she didn't really understand, so she solved that problem herself, getting out of her covers and hugging him with fierce affection when he finally sat down n her bed.

After that his attitude had a complete turn around; Naruko couldn't remember the last time she'd hugged her father, but this one almost made up for it. She could hear him mumbling '_thank the gods_' over and over in her ear to himself, and he sounded like he was crying.

"I was so worried, I thought you'd_ never_... Don't _ever _disappear like that again. I'll drill illusions into your skull once Tsunade let's you start training again, if that's what... No more of this, I promise... Just don't ever... Thank the gods you're _safe_..." he sobbed, running his fingers through the back of her hair, and kissing her cheek like he used to when she was little.

Her dad was hugging her, he was actually there. Here. In front of her

"Dad-"

"Shh, it alright, we can talk later I promise..." he mumbled, not letting his hold on her slacken at all.

It was apparently contagious, the crying. Years of tears suddenly came out, and she sobbed into his t-shirt (her dad was wearing casual clothes too) like some sort of mixed up hyena, one that cried instead of laughed.

"Dad, I'm sorry I yelled at you before... I didn't..."

The tears welled up again and Naruko was very glad her teacher had left the room by that point. She felt like a stupid, bawling baby, but it didn't seem to be stopping any time soon.

"I know you didn't, I know. It's not your fault you got mad, but we can talk about that later, I promise. I _mean_ it this time too. You're _home_ now, that's all I care about. That you're _home_ and _safe_... That's all I care about. That's all that matters..." her dad replied, snivelling himself.

And he was right; she was home, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Next chapter will have some more recovery for Naruko, and Karui's fate will be revealed. A few other things too. For clarification, Sasuke's casual clothing is his re-design for Road to Ninja. Oh my god I'm stoked for that film! Playboy, flirty, bad-pick-up-line casanova, grinning Sasuke! and Cat Kiba! and Ino and... and <em>Hinata!_ I could actually _like_ Hinata in this film, and believe me _that_ is saying something._**

**_If any of you follow the KBS Cosplay skits on YouTube, and you've seen the Q&A videos, then you'll _know_ how much I don't like Hinata. And I could actually like RtN Hinata. I'm so shipping SasuHina for that film XD I may even use her for some inspiration for this story. In fact, I think I will! Maybe... *_Ponders..._*_**

**_Anyway, for those who were asking, I _don't_ plan to leave in the matter of stories being deleted. If it happens to me, I'll re-post the stories without the Lemons. Then give you links to the lemons ;)_**

**_I've signed up for AO3 (but won't get an account till about October _*twitch*_), and AdultFanfiction (just can't be bothered uploading there at the moment), so until it happens to me, I won't worry about it. I'd get LiveJournal but... I don't know how the hell to navigate that place, let alone upload anything. is way easier to manage ATM._**

**_I may be changing my Username however. I'm Ncj700 (DA, YouTube, Tumblr, Yahoo Messenger, and a few other places too) everywhere else, except here. I picked my username when I first got into anime, and I cringe whenever I tell people what it is now X( I don't know yet, but its being considered. Just warning you :)_**

**_One more question... does anyone know what size the images have to be for the image uploader to load them properly? Are they JPeg format? Am I supposed to size them by pixel of file size? has neglected yo inform us what measurement is being used..._ *Twitch* *Twitch***

**_Song is 'Look After You' by The Fray :)_**

**_Hope you liked the chapter!_**  
><strong><em>Nat <em>**  
><strong><em>xxx<em>**


	15. Interlude: Part II  Practice

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Fifteen - -<br>****Interlude ~ Part II **

* * *

><p><em>'And I've lost who I am, and I can't understand why my heart is so broken, rejecting your love, without, love gone wrong, lifeless words carry on; but I know, all I know, is that the end's beginning.'<em>

* * *

><p>It took three weeks for Naruko to pass Tsunade's standards before she was allowed back out to train with her teammates.<p>

Once she had woken up, Tsunade had pumped her full of bloodline boosters, extra chakra, and food to make up for the weight she'd lost living off her bloodline for two months. Sasuke had been there when she tried persuading Naruko to go to the hospital, but she point blank refused.

He couldn't help worrying about that, but she had finally been cleared for training and she was as healthy as ever (physically at least). She'd spent a lot of time with her father during her recovery, and while Sasuke didn't know what had been said, they seemed to be getting along much better.

The Hokage's secretary seemed to be getting a lot more work at any rate, and he had seen the man sitting at Ichiraku's ramen with Naruko on a few occasions too, and at the tea house just along from it (turned out Naruto had a fondness for traditional sweets).

Hence why their training was not taking place in the usual training ground, but at the Hokage's private family one. He had met Choji and Lee at their own houses, and now they were standing outside the building that Naruko called home.

"Before we go in, do you remember what I said earlier?" Sasuke asked, pausing before knocking on the door.

"About Naruko-chan? You said you had to talk to us about that technique that hit her on the way out of Kumo" Choji replied confidently.

"Is there something else Sensei?" Lee asked.

Sasuke nodded at them both; there was a great deal more he had yet to explain to them... But where to _start?_ Who knew what kind of mental damage still lingered in their teammate? He probably should have told them all the details, but he didn't want them acting differently.

It would be better for Naruko to tell them herself too.

Before he could tell them a little about the damage she had taken and the new training adjustments however, the door was opened rather surprisingly, by a woman. Sasuke was awkwardly stunned to find his ex-girlfriend in the Hokage's home, but recovered and greeted her all the same.

"Anko - it's been a while..."

"A few months; good to see you again Sasuke. Your mother still setting you up, or have you calmed her down?" she greeted back; her tone was casual, but he could pick up her own brand of awkwardness in it.

It would have been bad if he couldn't - he did live with the woman for a year before they broke up. Anything less and his mother might actually have something to worry about.

His relationship with Anko wasn't a recent one. It had developed a few years previously when he was in the ANBU. Like himself, Anko had been one of Orochimaru's unfortunate experiment victims as a child, and still had problems that stemmed from it.

Sasuke had lethargy problems in the morning, when the seal started seeping into his body without a routine concoction that kicked it back into its cage.

Anko had temper and dietary problems. There was a reason she lived of Dango aside from her love of them, and it was because they were one of the few things she could actually eat.

Given he'd spent his recovery in other places, they'd never mixed until they were put on the same team for an assassination attempt on the very same man. It had failed miserably. They had later bonded over their mutual hatred for the man though, and the mission had ended with their tongues down each others throat at the bar afterwards.

Now they were good friends. Occasionally with benefits. But only very occasionally. Konoha tended to frown on couples living together or sharing a bed unless an engagement was likely in the future. A Kunoichi could do whatever she wanted for work, but outside everything had to be watched carefully.

He supposed it was a backwards attempt to even out casual life from work by one of the clans that had never been ground out. In any case, he and Anko both knew that marriage was not on the cards for either of them yet (and especially not together - they'd kill each other), so their tumbles together were usually work-stress related. Sometimes just boredom.

Besides, the woman didn't mind rough sex, and that was disgustingly hard to find in Konoha. She was also something, slightly, of a best friend. He'd never ever admit that though. He didn't want people thinking he had friends after all.

"She's dropped it for the moment. I stood up the last one, so she got the hint for now.

"That's cruel, even for _you_; you shouldn't stand a girl up at an omiai. Your father must have been livid"

"He made a show of it, but I think he was as relived as I was in the end. He seems mildly amused by the whole thing now at any rate. What are you doing here, if you don't mind my asking?" he asked, ignoring the curious looks from his two students, who were watching the exchange like hawks.

"Came to check up on the Hokage's brat for Inoichi-sempai. Doesn't matter what way that Kumo redhead words it, poor kid took some serious torture conditioning. All that lightning would should have _killed_ her! We need to keep an eye on her for the next few years... She hasn't relapsed yet; I'm hoping it'll be sooner rather than-"

"Naruko-chan was _tortured?_ Sensei, is that _true?_"

"Ino told me she got hit by a _lightning technique_ when you had broken her out!"

Sasuke winced Choji and Lee both interrupted, white as sheets and jaws hanging in horror. The exact nature of Naruko's injuries he hadn't had time to fully explain to them yet, and the exact details of her injuries were being kept quiet.

Ino had been sworn to secrecy by the Hokage, hence the lightning technique lie Choji had been told.

"Oops" Anko said with a sheepish grin and a laugh designed to dig oneself out of a hole.

"_Oops indeed..._" Sasuke said from between clenched teeth as Lee and Choji harrowed him for details on their teammate

* * *

><p>Eventually, once Anko had quickly made her getaway, Sasuke managed to stop his two male students from making too much noise.<p>

He explained that _yes_, Naruko _had_ been tortured, but it was better that she talk about it when she was ready to. It was important to keep it quiet, and he hadn't wanted them to treat her any differently than they already would. That might be bad.

Proving their team loyalty, the two boys immediately promised not to say a word, and they followed him through the house to the private training ground, as if nothing had happened.

Naruko was already there with her dad, and he appeared to be going through chakra manipulation basics with her. Judging by her consternated expression, it wasn't as easy as it should be.

"Morning Sasuke!" Minato greeted a cheery wave to them when he caught sight of them stepping off the engawa onto the training field.

Naruko glanced around, caught sight of them, and grinned widely before running over and sending Choji's poor brain to pieces with a simple hug. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but couldn't bring himself to shoo them apart. It was sort of sweet to see them all getting along.

The reunion continued for a couple more minuets before Naruko's father interrupted them, and got all their attention by a short conversation.

"Did you see Anko on your way out?" he asked.

"In a manner of speaking; kind of good to see she still doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut" Sasuke shrugged.

"I'm sorry if that was awkward - I would have warned you, but didn't think she'd be so long" the man laughed sheepishly.

"It's fine - it was a mutual agreement. We'd have been a horrible couple if we stayed together" Sasuke replied, feeling rather uncomfortable as he noticed the fiercely curious gazes of his Genin.

"You know that woman who was visiting Sensei?" Naruko asked, her expression far too curious for his comfort.

Seeing three curious gazes, and Minato's amused one, Sasuke felt very awkward and embarrassed, but he didn't see any escape from the question... Unless...

"She's my ex-girlfriend" he shrugged.

Three jaws dropped, and Naruko's father had to make up an excuse of helping the housekeeper in making lunch to cover up his snort of laughter. Naruko looked positively dumbfounded, and had an expression on her face that women wore when flirty bimbos flirted with their boyfriends...

"..._What?_"

"Wow, _really?_" Lee asked, suddenly very chirpy.

"You.. She..."

"My dad told me about her! She's from Torture and Interrogation isn't she?" Choji asked, still looking like she was scared of the woman.

"You said _ex-girlfriend_, did you break up? How long did you go out? Why did you break up with-"

"Enough! My personal life is not being discussed - twenty five laps around the field then start your normal exercises, _now!_" Sasuke snapped, cutting of the outraged Kunoichi and pointing at the edge of the training field.

The brats scarpered, and Sasuke patted himself on the back for a job well done.

* * *

><p>Over the course of the next six month, Sasuke slowly but thoroughly and carefully retrained his team in the basics; his theory was once they had the basics down better, techniques would also improve, along with some other side benefits in terms of getting Naruko back to form.<p>

He started from scratch, starting with a horrendous physical workout and thorough re-training in chakra control. This was mostly for Naruko's benefit; the lightning she'd been subjected to had nearly fried her chakra network, so her control had been smashed to pieces.

Tsunade had mentioned damage to her muscles from depending on her bloodline under so much duress, and so a few trips to the hospital had been in order. After a few more treatments and medications from the hospital, she finally managed to form a transformation for a couple of seconds.

It helped the boys too though. Lee was developing some decent sized chakra stores with all the leaf exercises, and developing very good control along with it. Choji's control was also improving, along with a bit of his control over his berserker traits outside of clan training.

His slight weight loss and muscle growth was also a good sign that his own bloodline was progressing normally.

Alongside that, he retrained their physical fighting abilities; Naruko had received some training alongside this with her father, as had Choji and Lee, but living off her bloodline had left her muscles in dire need of being retuned, and in one spot on her arm, even rebuilt.

That took a good amount of time, but it was worth it; her stamina was back along with it, even if she was gasping for breath around the same time as Choji rather than after Lee (but that would come back with more time).

Now, _finally_, he'd be starting them on elemental training.

They all had their own personal family techniques that they were proficient in, but their training with elemental chakra needed to start properly. He also needed to sign at least one of them on at the hospital, thank's to Tsunade's medic law being passed, but he was still _clueless_ on that. His own knowledge would suffice for now.

The Hokage had made sure they all knew their first element, and start basic preparation for it in the academy, but only Naruko had actually trained herself in hers slightly beyond that. Choji did have some earth techniques in his arsenal, but he didn't use them much. That needed to change.

Lee he'd already tested, but he didn't have any practice yet, and Sasuke would have to get him started on the leaf cutting exercise to train his wind element.

So that was the focus of their lesson today; he'd just explained it to them, and he was already worried by their reactions. Choji and Lee were ecstatic at the news of learning actual techniques, but Naruko... looked worried.

"Choji, since you already know your element, I want you to go through these scrolls and familiarise yourself with the theory behind the techniques while I get Lee started. I'll take you through the practical as best I can, but bear in mind I don't have much information on the earth element, since it isn't one of mine" he started, handing Choji several brown edged scrolls.

The boy took them eagerly, and went to a seat on a log with a gleeful expression to do as instructed. Turning to Lee, he handed another set of scrolls to the green-garbed boy.

"These are some scrolls on the wind element. Study them. From back to front. Elemental chakra isn't something to be losing control over, and you want to know as much as you can before you start trying to manipulate one. I'll quiz you later, and if you've done your homework, I'll start you off with some real training. Understand? No sidetracks" he said seriously.

Lee saluted, then hopped off to sit next to Choji. Finally, Sasuke turned to the twitching Kunoichi; this lack of enthusiasm wasn't really new. She was _alot_ more reserved now.

Even her _clothes_ had changed. She had some green leggings that fell to mid calf, a long-sleeved brown dress with a red swirl on the front, and an orange jacket with her new, loose blue sandals. Compared to her previous outfit, it screamed anxiety and lacking self-confidence.

"Since you already have the basics of your wind element done, I want you to move onto some more advanced techniques with that, and start training your second element. When you channel your chakra, you need to hold back every single speck of wind chakra, or it will react to that instead..." he said, handing her the piece of paper that would tell her her second element.

Concentrating, he felt the surge of chakra as she channeled it into the paper; he did wonder if he would need a few tries, but it appeared all the chakra training had paid off. Her control had vastly improved from before, if it could be considered any sort of plus, and it only took her one try to get the reaction into the paper.

If only her reaction to the paper itself was any sort of plus; her face _paled_ on sight of the crumpled paper in her hand, before she screwed it into a ball and threw it away?

"Naruko-"

"I don't _need_ another element! I can help Lee with his wind chakra. It's not fair that he's so far behind me and Choji and I get ahead of both of them. That's why they were put with me right? I'll help him instead..." she interrupted stubbornly, staring at the ground.

Sasuke sighed; he'd been _afraid_ of this...

Elements tended to run in families, typically from the fathers. Naruko already had her dad's wind chakra, and her mother's second element was earth according to her file. Lightning was dominant over earth, so the chances her second would be lightning were... Well, the result spoke for itself.

"Naruko, you have to do _something_, and ignoring this won't make it go away..."

And of course, Naruko just looked at her shoes more with that encouragement. Damn it all, this maybe hadn't been his best idea. Apparently the idea of lightning was still too fresh in her mind to cope with properly. Six months later, and while she wasn't _'regressing'_ per se, she wasn't making any progress either.

"What about... What if I hold the lightning back too? If I hold that back, and try the paper again... I wouldn't get earth because it would be too weak with lightning getting my second element, but I could have fire or water..." she said haltingly, sounding like she had already done all the background reading and elemental theory.

Knowing Naruko and her stubborn side, she probably already had. _Meticulously_ so.

"It would take a year to get anything above a bit of smoke or a squirt of water Naruko; you might not be able to draw out anything at all... Most people who do don't even get past the paper for their third element, and most people don't even get _that_..." he said carefully.

Her face broke again, but she bit her lip stubbornly.

"I don't want to use lightning..." she mumbled.

Sighing, Sasuke racked his brains for a solution. It would be bad if he forced her to take up the training, but she couldn't avoid it either. Neither could she just hang around the training field... But if he pushed her it would be bad for her mental health, which really hadn't recovered properly...

A reason why he hadn't brought up illusions yet; he would soon, but considering the role they'd played he needed to be extra careful.

But what was there for her to do other than basic training and family techniques? She was supposed to work on those in her own time, not team time... As if reading his mind, she piped up again, with another alternative.

"I'll try and get my other element, but in case I can't, I'm volunteering for the medical ninja thing! Dad said last night that you and Kakashi need to pick one of us by tonight, so _I'll_ do it!" she chirped eagerly.

Chirping. _Naruko_ was _chirping_. If it wasn't such a mess he'd be over the moon to see her excited over something. He half had a mind to let her do it (he did not want to be the last to submit his form, especially not after _Kakashi_ - his mother would _kill_ him), but...

Of all the brats, he doubted he would have picked Naruko as the ideal future medic but... The thought of avoiding her lightning element with it was the first thing to have excited her so much in _months_...

"Alright... I'll send a message to Tsunade-sama and sign you up. You can have this the rest of this paper - if you get sick of trying, start going over you exercises and katas again. I'll try get you some scrolls for medical techniques and anatomy this afternoon when I go get Lee's..." he relented after a few moment of hesitation.

He handed her the chakra papers and watched her run off with them before sighing in frustration, and heading over to the boys. The grin of relief that perked her face up did not reassure him, but he didn't know what else to do.

* * *

><p>The classroom at the top of the hospital had been easy to find, and on entering the room, Naruko was attacked by Ino, and her crying, and hugging, and everything else that came with her best friend.<p>

"_Naruko!_ I was so worried about you! Hokage-sama wouldn't let me visit, so I didn't know how you were doing and-"

"Ino, calm down, I'm walking and talking aren't I?" Naruko asked, giving her friend a hug in spite of herself.

Ino didn't reply, she just hugged her some more, ignoring the strange looks the other occupants of the room were giving her. Finally she let go, went back for one last hug, then let go again.

"What are you doing here? Is Tsunade-sama gong to be late?" Ino asked.

Naruko was glad that Ino hadn't bothered asking her how she was; of all her friends (other than Sasuke), Ino was the only person who knew the whole truth about what happened to her in Kumo. She knew not to bother asking if she was okay.

Not that she wasn't. Naruko thought she was doing pretty well in her opinion, all things considering, but she wouldn't say she was okay. Fine would be more appropriate, or Sasuke's interpretation of it ('freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional').

"I signed up... Sensei couldn't pick any of us and I didn't... I volunteered to do it. I'm a girl. I'm supposed to be better at it right? It what all my dad's graphs say at any rate" Naruko replied evasively.

Ino's jaw dropped, along with that of Kiba, who was sitting on the bench ino had just been occupying.

"You... Volunteered?" Ino asked disbelievingly.

"But you _hated_ first aid in the academy! You said it was what gave Kunoichi such a weak reputation!" Kiba noted.

"Shut it dog breath - Lee only just got his chakra back, so he doesn't have much, andhe's started his elemental training along with Choji. I already got my basics done, so I'm the only one free to do it. What are _you_ doing here anyway?" Naruko retorted, ignoring Ino's worried/gob smacked expression.

"You really think Tenten or Shikamaru would volunteer? Tenten doesn't have the chakra control. I don't either really, but when has Shikamaru ever _volunteered_ for anything? I'm in the same boat as you. Ino's the only person from our year who volunteered... Well, except for Hinata..." the Inuzuka boy shrugged.

"_Hinata?_ Ugh, great, that's just the cherry on my whole day..." Naruko groaned, sliding in between Kiba and Ino on the bench.

As if to make fun of her, Hinata chose that moment to enter the room along with one of her friends from another team - Naruko didn't care to remember who it was, or what team they were from.

Hinata wore a pair of blue shorts and a beige jumper, which she left unzipped, with her mesh vest with black upper lining showing, her shoulder length hair neatly held back with a pale blue hair fastener in a ponytail, her fringe framing her face.

She should have _known_ Hinata would be here! She was a freaking Hyūga. Her chakra control was just _good_. End of story. She was perfectly suited to fiddly medical techniques. Her two teammates weren't great either. Naruko didn't remember their names, but she knew they weren't great.

As the girl searched the room for a place to sit, her freaky white eyes landed on her, and Naruko gave her a mockingly sweet smile.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Namikaze-san; I was expecting Uchiha-sensei to pick Choji or Lee for the medical training" she greeted distantly, which was downright friendly really.

"They're busy with elemental practice, so I volunteered for it" Naruko replied, through Bly slightly gritted teeth.

"Really...? I would have thought you would have started training your second element rather than take on medic training" Hinata retorted; Naruko flinched.

Her dad was on the council, or at least, Neji-sensei represented him. Of course her dad would have told her everything to do with the attack. Just so she could try and bait her in public. Or play it up as a concerned friend (Naruko wasn't aware of the current political climate, so she couldn't be sure which). Rotten Hyūga bastards.

"I was going to, but it wouldn't be fair on Choji and Lee, and someone had to sign up" Naruko shrugged, pretending she didn't see the glares Kiba and Ino were sending Hinata.

Contrary to how it looked, this really _was_ Hinata's way of being friendly. She wasn't being openly hostile, or goading her into a fight. Normally, they'd be kicking the shit out of each other on already, but Hinata was being _nice_ for once.

"Really? I supposed that makes some sense, but did you find out what it is? So I know what to be expecting next time?" she asked, genuinely.

Naruko flinched, and started to pick at a thread on the corner of her shirt sleeve.

"Lightning..." she muttered.

Hinata flinched a little, but said nothing more on the subject; excusing herself, she headed to the back of the room as Tsunade entered the room, and started taking names.

If Kiba and Ino were worried about her reaction to Hinata's question, they said nothing, and Naruko couldn't help letting out a breath of relief.

* * *

><p><em><strong>And so life has started progressing, and Naruko has undergone some more than mild changes. I know I promised Karui's fate, but I needed to put it in the next chapter if I wanted to get Choji and Lee up on their training too, and if I added the bit for Karui I would have been over my word limit.<strong>_

_**I don't like going ver my word limit :( As for Anko... I have so many plans for her ***_**cackles**_*** none of them really relate to Sasuke and Naruko (they'll have enough problems without Naruko having a rival, trust me), but... Well, Sasuke isn't going to be a virgin at his age, and he kind of needs a wider social circle. Anko made sense, since she gives me a chance to explain a little of Sasuke's background in this universe.**_

_**Chapter quote is from '**_**Shattered**_**' by Trading Yesterday. One of the few albums I can listen to all the way through. If you haven't heard of them, I can only assume you live in a cave XD.**_

_**Hope you liked the chapter :)**_


	16. Interlude: Part III Sentence

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><strong>- - Chapter Sixteen - -<br>****Interlude ~ Part III**

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><p><em>'I'm diving off the deep end, you become my best friend. I wanna love you but I don't know ifI can. I know something is broken and I'm trying to fix it, Trying to repair it, any way I can.'<em>

* * *

><p>Another month passed, and if anything, Sasuke was getting more concerned about Naruko.<p>

She had made a small amount of progress with her third element, in that she actually _had_ one. After using his whole supply of chakra paper, she'd finally singed the corner of one, final sheet with the tiniest spark of fire he had ever seen.

She'd been so ecstatic he hadn't had the heart to tell her that until she trained her lightning chakra, she probably wouldn't get any more from it than that. Frankly, he was amazed she'd managed it at all.

He knew she had the talent, but a lot of people did and never got anywhere. He had a feeling it was her desperation to avoid the lightning element that had got her so far.

Which was why he was starting a different focus today in the training of his team; swordsmanship, or as was probably more likely, just weapons training. He didn't think all of them would take a shine to his favourite weapon.

The academy only trained them with kunai, makibishi, the tantō, and a few kinds of shuriken. While they had done more than average in Kumo, the swords so frequent there had thrown them a bit. Thankfully they had been proficient with kunai-orientated blocking.

Staring at the three Genin in front of him, giving the bokken he'd handed them reproachful looks, Sasuke had to wonder if any of them were cut out for the time it would take to master the sword (to his standards at least).

Choji had swung his own wooden sword at a nearby tree, presumably to make an exuberant mark in his enthusiasm, and promptly broken the end (which he was now trying to hide).

Lee on the other hand was struggling to hold onto it properly, and kept dropping it in an attempt to swing it. A two handed mimic of one promptly had him on his backside. Naruko meanwhile...

"_Ouch!_ I got a splinter!" Naruko wailed after poking the wood where it was supposedly at a point.

"If you idiots want to learn anything, then stop bumbling around like buffoons and start paying attention!" he snapped; the effect was immediate.

As they all dropped the swords in shock, Sasuke had to hold back his snicker. Neji had a point about instilling a certain fear factor into their charges.

"Alright; the first thing you are going to learn is how to _hold_ the sword _properly_..." he growled, pulling his own sword out of it's scabbard on his back.

There was nothing but frightened silence; only the mewl of Tora-chan as she sat on the engawa demanding food broke it (the Daimyo's wife had, _shockingly_, given her to Naruko after the Kumogakure incident _'to help the poor dear through her ordeal'_).

"Well, don't just stand there _gawking_ at them! _Pick them up!_" he barked.

The three clots nearly tripped over themselves in their haste to do his bidding.

* * *

><p>After another two weeks of practice, only Lee had proven to be any good with swords. He mastered the first set of basic strokes within a few days of starting. Choji and Naruko however, were not so blessed.<p>

Choji had found it uncomfortable to work with, and that had rather surprised Sasuke; his father was one of those in the village who were rather proficient with them. It was a shame he didn't have the same patience for it.

Since Sasuke was adamant that they all learn to use at least one other weapon seriously, he had spent the day at the weapons storage in the Jonin Sensei Headquarters, going through different weapons wihimself young Akimichi, trying to find something he didn't feel completely ungraceful with.

In the end, they hadn't found anything, and Sasuke had walked a dejected Choji to the weapon-smiths instead; the man there knew a lot more about using weapons than most people gave him credit for, and Sasuke hoped he would be able to give him a few suggestions to look up.

Sasuke had learned that when _he_ had first hovered at the back of the shop for months, watching as the man forged his first sword when he was eight years old, and if he had a question, the weapons-smith was the first person he asked.

Arriving, Sasuke had been talking about the problem as Choji watched the man hammering away at a red-hot kunai just out of the forge. When he had asked if he had any suggestions, the man had grinned and said _'I think the lad's figured it out for himself already'_.

And so, Choji had left with one of the mans old, large, brick-headed hammers.  
>He had already learned how much of an impact it had on his earth techniques (even as a non-chakra-conducting metal, it helped a good deal combined with Choji's physical strength), and was currently learning puppetry techniques to keep his chakra connected to it so he could quickly snap it back after having thrown it.<p>

After staging about fifty fake dummies and letting Choji try out his newly controlled berserker trait with it, Sasuke had almost danced with glee at the destruction he'd inflicted on the straw mock ups of enemy ninja.

Choji was going to absolutely _destroy_ the ANBU exam one day, he could feel it in his _bones_.

Naruko had also struggled with the sword, though she had stuck at it longer than Choji. She had shown some decent enough skill too (genetically inherited genius coming out he supposed), but just before he had cleared her of the first basic set, she had come up to him rather dejectedly, and apologised.

'_...it just feels wrong_' she'd said; yet another part of her training had been ruined by Kumogakure.

She'd been upset about it too. Before, she used to give the sword on his back an envious kind of look, so she must have wanted to learith ow to se one herself. He'd actually been planning out how to teach her, roughly at least.

Not any more though. Another teacher might not have been so easygoing in terms of helping her adjust - they might even have told her to suck it up - but Sasuke had been trained by the head of the torture and interrogation unit.

He wasn't a professional interrogator like his brother, but he knew enough about the human psyche to know saying omething like that would just result in the exact _opposite_ of what he was trying to achieve. So he told her it wasn't a problem (which it really wasn't, even if he was a little disappointed himself), and took her to the weapons store room too.

In complete opposite to Choji, Naruko had immediately picked out two things; a bow and quiver set. That had confused him; he'd been expecting something more lethal, like a kusarigama, or a kusari-fundo.

Then he had thought about the attack method involved with a bow and arrow, and started to worry more; it was a long-distance weapon. Naruko wasn't a long-distance fighter. In fact, she hated it. Or used to. Not anymore though; by taking up something more reserved Naruko was, in her own way, withdrawing.

The sudden interest in healing, the aversion to lightning (or fear, as he starting to suspect), the clothing change, and now the distance weaponry... She was withdrawing, quickly, and he didn't know how to help her get out of it.

* * *

><p>Deciding to try more familiar territory - in hopes of getting Naruko to open up, which she still refused to do - Sasuke started going through family training and techniques, just to see how they were coming along.<p>

For Lee that meant going through his physical fighting style he had inherited from Gai - Sasuke had his reservations about teaching a child the eight gates or lotus techniques, especially one with a new experience with chakra, but the turtle summon was a good addition, even if the baby turtle Lee summoned _was_ somewhat high-pitched.

Choji had also proved to have a good grasp of his expansion techniques; he could expand several different parts of his body now, as well as the whole of it. His berserker trait was still being trained by his father, but that was making progress too. He wanted to sign a summoning scroll, but didn't have a family one, so Sasuke was looking into that for him.

Naruko had her family scroll signed; the toads had been eager to have her, and he often found her talking to one of them about poison of all things during training breaks. If he hadn't seen her reading up on poisoned weapons, he really would have started to worry.

She already had a basic grasp over her mother's bloodline (she didn't need to worry about the longevity till later, thank the gods), and could currently create several chains with ease. It drained her stamina incredibly quickly though (cue more worry). Her sealing was fine, amd seemed o have improved ith hervnew chakra control, so he told her to move on to the next level in her family library.

She was getting better at the Rasengan, and seemed dead set on the idea of combining it with her wind element. Though not a family technique per se, he'd tested her capacity for making shadow clones, and while her stamina had dropped significantly, she had still filled a small training ground with them.

He had thought about telling her the training possibilities that lay within them, but decided it would be more interesting to let her figure it out herself, if she hadnt already (it would certainly explain how she advanced so quickly). Everything had seemed fine, until it came to testing the Hiraishin.

When he asked her to try it, she threw out the kunai, but while she flickered to them as he mock-fought her, he noticed something off. His Sharingan was active, so he could see the chakra she was using and monitor it, and while there was chakra in the seals on the kunai...

It was just for decoration. All her chakra was being taken from her personal stores for the technique, rather than that which had been stored in the seals. Considering it was a technique _based_ around seals, that shouldn't have been happening _at all_.

Nor should she have been landing a metre away from the kunai themselves; sometimes she landed next to them, but she mostly ended up some distance away from her intended destination. That shouldn't have been happening.

Hence they were here again, at the hospital; Naruko was in getting a blood test with Tsunade to find out just what the hell was going on. Sasuke was certain it was another side effect from the lightning treatment, one as serious as the others.

Naruko would _not_ live without that technique. She used it every single day. If there was something wrong with it... He dreaded to even think of it.

* * *

><p>Three days after the trip to the hospital came a day Sasuke had been anticipating since Naruko disappeared; Karui's sentencing date.<p>

After three weeks of non-stop training, the date for the sentencing had been announced to the senior Jonin and heads of the ANBU divisions. He'd quickly made sure his Genin had the week off so he could be present at it.

Sasuke stood waiting outside the Hokage's office with his brother when the woman was escorted up through one of the ANBU passages that riddled the building, a hood over her head so she couldn't see or make an escape, along with some heavy restraints.

Sasuke also noticed one of the masked ANBU was a lighting user; he could tell by the colour of the stripes on on the mask. Judging by the hand he had on her restraints, he was there to throw in negative reinforcement if required (or possibly if the Hokage was in a bad mood).

The Hokage's secretary opened the door for them and they all followed her inside the office. Ibiki and Inoichi and the two elders were already there, as well as Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shikaku; it seemed the ninja population at least we're rather pissed off. He knew a few of the people in the crowd didn't need to be here.

One of the ANBU pulled the hood off her head, and Sasuke glared at the rather worn looking Kumo woman until his brother poked him in the arm, alerting him as the Hokage entered the room.

"Recount the charges for me Inoichi" Minato ordered, his tone one of large self-control.

"Actions against international laws and treaty breached on a Konoha ninja, Namikaze Naruko, female, aged twelve, recent Genin graduate, registration number 012607, designated Sensei, Uchiha Sasuke, registration number 012606, including chakra based torture, kidnapping, psychological torture, false imprisonment..." Ibiki started.

Sasuke held his breath as all the numbers and minor contract and law breaches were prattled off. He knew they had to go through all the legal crap but he just wanted to get to the sentencing. He wanted to know what her comeuppance would be. If it wasn't enough, he had no problems making suggestions.

That bitch had probably altered some part of Naruko's personality permanently! Even experienced ninja didn't come away from lightning torture without permanent scarring, and she was _twelve! _The only reason she was still sane was because of the Kyuubi's selfish interests, and even that hadn't been foolproof!

Anything less than a painful death, and he would be _severely_ displeased.

"...These crimes breach the contact treaty set down by theFourth Hokage, agreeing that mission contact between Kumo and Konoha be agreed beforehand by village leaders, international law forbidding imprisonment, torture of Genin, or ninja below sixteen years of age in aims of unlawful experimentation and incorporation of the victim into a bloodline programme illegally, without personal or parental consent" Ibiki finished.

"Thank you; Tsunade, Inoichi, do you have anything to add that might influence the decision in this matter?"

"Namikaze suffered extreme lightning burns, and damage to her chakra network, along with muscle deterioration and malnutrition during her... uonfinement. It is my belief that she only survived those as long as she did thanks to the Uzumaki bloodline inherited from her mother, and her similar Jinchuuriki status. I also think there may yet be more damage to find. It hasn't been long enough to know the long term affects" Tsunade said simply, clear dislike and anger in her voice.

Sasuke held his tongue as the Hokage took in Tsunade-sama's last few words.

"Inoichi, is there anything you can add, both on the mentality of the prisoner and Namikaze?" the Hokage asked, taking an ominous posture at the seat behind his desk.

"Only that Namikaze will have some psychological damage. As Tsunade-sama said, it will take time to see the full effects. The demon inside her actually saved her the fate of _permanent_ insanity..." Inoichi reported calmly.

"And the prisoner?" the blonde man asked the Yamanaka chief unpleasantly.

"She cares not for the damage her actions brought politically, or to her village. She finds Konoha to be the ones at fault for their reaction and lack of security. Had she been successful, she would have only gained from her decision - she also took _enjoyment_ from some of the treatment Namikaze suffered..." Inoichi reported through tense teeth; he seemed to have some new respect for Naruko all of a sudden.

The ninja throughout the room stiffened, and Sasuke felt Sakura holding onto his lower arm, reminding him that he didn't need to react rashly for Karui to get her '_rewards_'.

"Sasuke... You are Namikaze's teacher, and you've been helping Tsunade in her rehabilitation. Is there anything you can add to this from the past few weeks?"

Sasuke blinked in surprise; he wasn't supposed to add anything to this discussion. Even as her teacher, his opinion was supposedly too biased to be part of the official debate on the sentence.

He would have contributed to the additional comments, but that came after the decision had been made, before it was officially announced... It didn't usually impact the final decision.

It was only a nudge from his brother that reminded him he was supposed to speak.

"I... I can't say I've noticed anything definite towards Tsunade-sama's observations as of yet, other than what she has already mentioned, but there are some irregularities with her Hiraishin that are currently being investigated. As for Inoichi's..."

Sasuke hesitated, wondering if this was really appropriate.

"You have noticed something in her behaviour that backs his ideas up?" the Hokage asked encouragingly.

"...I recently re-trained my team, before starting them on their elemental training. As Naruko is already ahead of her teammates with her first element, I tested her for her second..." Sasuke started.

"...when it turned out to be lightning, she refused to train with it. She asked if she could train her third one, one she might not even _have_ instead. She also volunteered for medical training, something she was _completely_ unsuited for, nor held any _interest in_ prior to her confinement, amongst other personality changes..." Sasuke continued.

Inoichi's eyes widened, and Minato's darkened.

"I don't think she will ever recover from that aspect of the torture psychologically - even if she can ever train with lightning in the future, I think she'll be afraid of it for the rest of her life. That's what I see from her now. I'm not interrogator or a Yamanaka though. It's just my personal opinion..." he finished.

"Thank you Sasuke - if the council would like to accompany to a private discussion, they will have opportunity to add their own opinions on the evidence before I make the final decision..." the Hokage stated, standing up.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shikaku, Inoichi and Ibiki, several of the clan representatives (including his brother and Neji), and the two ANBU heads accompanied him into a side room with the two council members.

They only left for five minuets before coming back into the room, re-taking their places in the crowd that filled the Hokage's office.

"Are there any more comments from the amassed before I announce my decision?" Minato asked, sounding very routine.

A surprising number of people suggested that political ramifications be taken into account, or that the damage inflicted on Kumogakure be held up, or Karui's punishment be equal to her crimes as well as a message to her home village.

The message was clear enough; they wanted Karui dead too, and were simply going through the motions. Sasuke didn't know what had changed with he attitude of the ninja population towards Naruko, but apparently something had.

He told hImself it was a good thing, but given the prompt for the behaviour change, he didn't sound very convincing.

"Very well; Karui of Kumogakure, for your crimes internationally, and your crimes against Konohagakure, pending approval of the Fire Daimyō, you will serve two months of solitary confinement, before execution by burning to be carried out by, on psychiatric evaluation by Inoichi Yamanaka, Naruko Namikaze should she so desire, passing to Sasuke Uchiha, passing to Ibiki Morino. Attending medics Tsunade Senju and Sakura Haruno" he said coldly, looking for the first time to the restrained Kumogakure ninja.

Sasuke was stunned that he was being placed as the second executioner - Naruko he knew would get the first choice automatically, it was law in cases like this even if she was a kid. Why was he being given second choice for it? It was half his fault the woman had done what she did!

"You got her out, and Hokage or not, Minato-sama is Naruko-chan's father. He isn't allowed to be involved" Sakura murmured, her hand still wrapped discreetly around his wrist.

Considering her words, Sasuke turned back to the Kumo woman; Karui's dark skin had paled, and seemed to have realised the gravity of her situation.

"But thats illegal! Death by Burning is _illegal!_" she gasped in horror.

"In Lightning Country maybe, but in Fire Country Death by Burning is still completely viable with the approval of Shijimi-sama" Minato repeated, a mockingly bored tone to his voice, as of he had repeated the words hundreds of times.

The he smirked.

"...considering the fact that Shijimi-sama is a frequent visitor in my household for military budget meetings, and frequently spoils my daughter with wagashi boxes from hisersonal cook, I think he will give your sentencing his full approval, Karui-san."

"I want to appeal to the Raikage! As a foreign ninja, I have the _right_ to appeal for sentencing in Kumogakure!" she cried desperately.

"Actually, you do not - complete rights to deciding your punishment were signed over to Konoha in exchange for cessation of hostilities against Kumogakure by Ä-sama, with full approving of his council and the Daimyō of Lightning Country. Your fate belongs _entirely_ to me, and _I_ have decided that you will be executed by _Burning_. Take her down to solitary" Minato replied, sounding very smug as fear began to flicker across her face.

Sasuke didn't blame the woman for reacting as she did; Death by Burning was bad enough in civilian courts (where it was still used in Fire Country), but most crimes for ninja's had forbidden it, such was the added barbarity they had given to it.

The Red Death, as was the colloquial name, involved a typically archaic execution dehumanised and modernised by advancement in fire and medical techniques. The fire technique used burned slowly, at maximum level for pain, while the medical technique cast on the victim increased the pain receptors and used the body's chakra stores to prolong longevity.

The poor sucker usually burned for five days, _minimum_. The longest recorded had been fifty years ago, lasting for seven weeks. If Sasuke remembered rightly, it had been cast on a Konoha betrayer by a member of an old Team 7. Sasuke almost felt sorry for the girl.

But in reality, she done exactly the same thing with lightning to his student. Naruko had ended up with burns on her skin and open wounds on those, a fried chakra network, and a seemingly permanent personality change.

All because the little _bitch_ had wanted a _fucking promotion!_

As the woman had the hood pulled back over her head and was dragged away kicking and screaming, Sasuke felt better than he had in months.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Got the sentencing chapter up early :) and just to clarify, the bow and arrow thing was in the original draft for this story, which I wrote <em>two years_ ago and subsequently ignored because I had no muses for it. It is not from the hunger games. It's one of the few things that stuck actually. Just to clear that up._**

**_And it won't just be a bow and arrow - you'll get a hint next chapter, but I have plans for that bow and arrow. _Plans_ *_evil cackle_*_**

**_Hope Karui's sentence meets your standards - I loved writing smarmy bastard Minato! It seemed fair that sinice Karui used lightning on Naruko, Naruko should get to use fire on her._**

**_Some team bonding and Karui's death next chapter, and then onto the good stuff; the main plot, the chunin exams, the injury drama, daddy-daughter bonding, the SMUT! God, forget everything else, the smut is the only reason I wanted to write this story XD_**

**_I wrote most of it already; had an eight our journey to Manchester to see Bruce Springsteein (it rained, but god that man knows how to entertain people), so I wrote most of it in the passenger seat next to my mother... _**

**_Which was fucking scary - I kept thinking she was going see it, and I dont know about anyone else but I do not want my mother reading my smutty lemony writing... *_shivers_* _**

**_still ironing out some wrinkles, but mostly done. Look forward to frustrated-pervert-Sasuke and bastard-but-well-meaning-Sasuke ;D_**

**_Chapter Quote is from '_X&Y_' by Coldplay._**

**_Hope you liked the chapter :)_**


	17. Interlude: Part IV Breakdown

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Seventeen - -<br>****Interlude ~ Part IV**

* * *

><p><em>'I shot for the sky, I'm stuck on the ground, so do why do I try? I know I'm going to fall down.<br>I thought I could fly, so why did I drown? I'll never know why; it's coming down, down, down.  
>I'm going down, down, down...'<em>

* * *

><p>"What are you doing Naruko-chan?" Choji asked his blond teammate.<p>

It had been a month since they first started training with their weapons, and he'd gotten really good at throwing his hammer. It had been tricky keeping his chakra attached so he could pull it straight back, but he'd finally done it yesterday.

Sasuke-sensei had kept interfering with his practice for weeks, attaching his own chakra to try and steal it away from him till he could hold onto it. Then he'd done the same thing with Lee and Naruko-chan.

_'No matter what it is, your weapon is yours. It is another limb, and if someone takes away one of your limbs, you get it back - if you aren't so attached to them that you'd crawl through mud with a broken leg to get them back, than you don't deserve them' _he'd said.

When Naruko asked if he'd ever done that, his reply had dropped their jaws_; 'In a manner of speaking; it wasn't mud or a broken leg though. It was snow, two broken legs and a punctured lung - we had a joint mission with foreign ninja, and they turned. Standard international mission practice. We did the same back to them' _he'd shrugged at their shock.

Choji couldn't help but think Sasuke-sensei was kind of _awesome _after that. Kind of like Naruko-chan was; even with her bad Illusions she still managed to get the top rank in the academy, and she was really nice. He couldn't believe _anyone _would want to torture her, but apparently they had.

It didn't seem to have affected her too much though; well, she was quieter, and Sasuke-sensei had made him and Lee swear on pain of _'painful things' _they'd never, ever, mention Lightning Country till she did first, but she was just getting on with her training.

He knew that lady from the interrogation department been visiting the Hokage's mansion every week for the past seven months though, presumably to talk to Naruko-chan about it; he'd overheard her talking to Sasuke-sensei about it once...

_"How's she doing? Is she talking yet?" Sasuke asked._

_"Oh, she's talking, but not about Kumo. Don't rush her Sasuke. She'll do it in her own time - you can't force her to talk about it when she isn't ready to. Didn't Ibiki teach you anything?"_ _Anko replied._

_"I know, I know, I'm just-"_

_"Worried. I've noticed, but you can't force her into talking about something she isn't ready for yet. You know that!" Anko snapped irritably._

_"Of course I do, but... Its been months Anko. _Months_, and she hasn't reacted, or... She's just ignoring it, and that never ends well..."_

_"If I recall correctly, you ignored your therapist for five months before you started raging and throwing things about Inorō's office and complaining about Orochimaru" Anko snipped back._

_"I was a child - children are stubborn" he sniffed._

_"And so is Naruko, Sasuke - she's _twelve_, and while you were knocked out, she wasn't. You have to give her time. Right now, she's like a deer that's heard you step on a twig; you have to let her come to you. If something startles her, she'll bolt for the trees before you can blink."_

...Choji didn't really think Naruko-chan was anything like a deer, nor did he really know what they were worrying about though; she was just moving on with her life; surely that was a good thing?

The thought took him back to his original question.

The blonde girl had already mastered aiming her arrows at moving targets thanks to her shadow clones, and now she was reading a scroll on wind techniques. There were a myriad of bottles with warning labels attached, scattered around her, along with a large heap of arrows, and more books and scrolls.

It was rare to see her so studious, but it was usually a sign that she had an idea brewing, so they just left her to it. The last time Sasuke-sensei tried to interrupt her for '_something more productive_' she'd hurled a good number of shuriken at him. She didn't mind talking about her ideas though, and Choji was curious about this one.

"I want to give my arrows more awesome..." she mumbled, turning a sealing book upside down in an attempt to decipher it.

"More awesome?" he asked.

"Yeah, like putting poisons and stuff on them... And sealing techniques into them. I can turn them into explosion tags easy - its just the same as with paper - but a _technique?_ Now _that's_ a challenge. Imagine if I could seal a Rasengan or a shadow clone into them Choji! People expect an arrow, but they get a great big _ass-kicking _instead!" she replied gleefully.

"That sounds kinda hard..."

"It's bloody _impossible! _My dad won't help me either; he says I need to figure it out myself. Mama could do it, but I can't find any containment runes that would last long enough. Besides, she had the whole Uzumaki library to help her! I've got three scrolls! The only runes I have just blow up my arrows! I had to get those made special too!" she blustered, throwing her book at a tree.

"Maybe you should take a break, do something else. The weather today can't be helping much" he suggested; Naruko made a face, and glared with a squint up at the sun for making it so hot and humid.

It had been horribly warm all week, and today it was humid too. The air felt thick from all the heat; it was horrible for training in, and just as bad indoors. Hence why the whole team was outside with book work (and sealing in Naruko's case).

Lee was under some trees with Sasuke-sensei, who had pulled his black Jonin vest off and was trying to sleep, occasionally answering Lee's questions on whatever was in his wind scroll. Choji had been reading up on combining elemental techniques into weapon attacks, but the heat seemed to be getting to all of them.

"Like _what? _If I look at another anatomy book I'll _gut _the fucking pages from it, and I'm not fighting _anyone _in this weather..." she groaned, flopping back onto the grass despairingly.

"I have that technique you asked to borrow - I hid it in my lunch box. You could make some clones and try working on your fire-"

Naruko cut him off with a sharp finger over her lips and a hand over his mouth.

_"Choji! _I told you not to say anything about that! Not till I can use a Fireball on Sensei!" she hissed, glancing around just in case he dark-haired man was nearby.

"Sorry! I just wanted to let you know I managed to sneak it out from the family library" he apologised, backing away a little.

A few weeks ago, Choji had been on a late night walk on the way back from the market for his mother when he noticed someone was at team seven's usual training ground; investigating, he'd found about fifty blondes in a frog nightie-t-shirt, furiously trying to set fire to candles.

She hadn't exactly explained why she was having so much trouble with it, and Choji got the feeling she didn't really want to talk about it. Still, he'd offered to help her out by getting some of his family fire technique scrolls, and the basics on the chakra type itself.

It didn't cause him any trouble; both his parents had fire and earth as their elements. It varied in the order of which came first, but few Akimichis had one of the other types. He didn't know any directly at least... In any case, his reading up on fire chakra was a good thing.

The fact that he was doing it in Naruko-chan's company during the evening was just an added bonus. Ever since she signed up for medic training (that had completely blown him for a loop - he'd always thought Naruko-chan _hated _first aid training), his teammate had been spending more time with her friends from the academy, including Kiba Inuzuka.

Choji liked Kiba, he was a nice even if he was a bit enthusiastic, but that didn't mean he couldn't be jealous. Of all the boys in class, Kiba was the only one Naruko had a solid friendship with during the academy.

Kiba was a really good ninja too, just below Shino but equal with Sai, and if Naruko-chan's crush on Sasuke-sensei was anything to go by, that was her type. Strong fighters, like her. She was really nice, so Kiba probably liked her too.

_And _she was pretty. Naruko-chan was really cute when she smiled (probably too much for his own good - Choji forgot things when she grinned), but she was really, _really_ scary when she was angry about something. Like she was right now.

The blonde girl sighed, and let him go, flopping back down onto her front.

"Sorry Choji. I didn't mean to get mad, but-"

A distant rumble distracted her, and she glanced down towards the village, her eyes searching, even as their teacher's snapped open.

"What was that?" she asked, a strange tone in her voice

Choji shrugged, not really sure himself, but it sounded like someone was throwing boulders around. He knew Tenten was learning how to beak them with her fists from Sakura-sensei, and their team wasn't training too far away.

"Probably Tenten" he replied.

She seemed satisfied with that, and went to go pick up her book. Returning, she flopped to the back of it and started searching for something in the index. As she found it the rumble came again, louder and closer with a distinct thunder behind it that did not belong to Tenten or the rock pulverisation technique Sakura was teaching her.

Seconds later streaks of bluish-white electric light flashed across the skies, lighting the dark clouds that had suddenly rolled in over their heads. All of a sudden, the mood in the training field took a very serious dive down.

Naruko paled, her eyes going wide at the sound as it rumbled overhead again, staring at the clouds; Choji was close enough to see the tiny shakes in her shoulders.

Sasuke-sensei was standing up, eyes alert, a very deep frown on his face. One he'd using a lot with Naruko-chan lately.

The thunder crashed again, rumbling through the forest and valley; on the second flash of light, Naruko bolted into the trees, disappearing in a flash of yellow.

* * *

><p>Lee was standing at the top of the Hokage monument, suppressing his chakra and searching through the village for that belonging to his team-mate. The rain as thundering down over them, and his rain-cloak had been soaked.<p>

Though new to chakra, Lee had proven rather good at chakra sensing. Especially when looking for his teammates; Sasuke-sensei was easy to find - fire and lightning chakra made an odd mix in a person, and the size of his stores pulled him away from others with the same elements.

Choji was harder, but that was because he hadn't mastered his element yet. So Choji was found by looking for the soft, kind quality in his chakra, the kind the medics usually had.

Naruko used to be easy, but now it was harder; her chakra had changed, she had changed and you didn't need to be smart to see it. In the past few months, her personality had done a complete turnaround. She didn't take half as many risks during their physical training, and Lee found that very sad.

"Any sign of her Lee?"

Lee turned to his teacher, noting how dishevelled he looked; he and Choji were just as bad. Naruko had been gone all night, and the storm hadn't let up at all. While that made it likely she was still in the same place, it made searching difficult.

He and Choji had tried enlisting Kiba in the search, but he hadn't been able to pick up her scent because of the rain, besides having the same problem Lee did with her change in chakra. Ino had the same problem, so she couldn't track her mind - both were looking though.

Choji had been desperate enough to ask Hinata for help, but she refused after hearing of the problem; _'Why should I? It's her problem. Not mine. She needs to get over herself' _she'd snorted, before stalking off with her sister.

"No, nothing Sensei... I never realised how big Konoha actually was... It's rather unyouthfully large for this particular problem" he replied glumly as Choji appeared at the from the trees looking rather downtrodden himself.

"Choji?"

"Nothing; I checked the whole compound Sensei, but she isn't on the Akimichi estate. My dad promised to have a look for her though, and I went round the other clans too. She isn't with the Aburames or Uchihas, they had a check as soon as I asked... The Hyūgas refused to get involved, but I saw Neji-sensei and he promised to have a look around..." Choji replied to the unspoken question, stopping to yawn.

"Good job - you two can go home and get some sleep. I'll keep looking for her. If I can't find her by tomorrow, then we'll get the ANBU to help; I'm still owed more than a few favours for taking an early resignation..." Sasuke-sensei muttered, going over to edge of the cliff face that formed the Hokage monument and staring out at village with his Sharingan.

It had been on ever since Naruko had disappeared. Lee was observant enough to notice that their teacher didn't rely on his bloodline much; he used it when it was useful, but Lee had never seen him use it this long before.

"But _Sensei-"_

"Look, I know you want to help, but you two are going to fall over any minuet. At least go get a couple of hours sleep. I don't need you two falling over from exhaustion and cracking your heads open on the road on top of everything else..." he replied, a weary tone in his voice.

Choji was about to object again, but Lee quickly dragged him away promising they would both get some sleep before coming back to help again, much to Choji's consternation. Once some distance away, he blustered.

_"Lee! _What are you _doing? _We don't have time to _sleep! _We have to find _Naruko-chan! _You saw how scared she was when the storm started! If we leave her-"

"We aren't _going _to leave her, but Sasuke-sensei needs to _think _we are. He's _really _worried this time, so it'll be easier all around if he thinks we're following orders. Not that it was a specific order, so technically we don't have to listen to him..." Lee hissed back.

Choji stared at him.

"That's brilliant Lee... I had no idea you could lie that good..." he mused after a moment.

"It's not a lie; I'm just bending around Sensei's poor word choice to aid our youthful teammate without his knowledge" Lee retorted insistently.

Choji was right; he couldn't lie _at all, _but he wasn't lying, so it was perfectly easy.

"Fine, you're bending words; did you ave some sort of plan to find Naruko-chan once we've done that?" Choji asked curiously, adjusting his hammer to a better position on his belt.

Lee grinned.

"Naruko is scared of the thunder-

"The _lightning" _Choji corrected; Lee glared at him - he'd been spending a lot of time with Sensei for his wind chakra, and having picked up a few tips from the receiving end of his made Lee's quite effective.

"Naruko is scared of the Thunder and Lightning right now, most unyouthfully I might add, so I don't think she's thinking like a ninja. She's just scared; it's the first time she's done anything normal for months, so we have to think about where she would have gone when she was scared before Kumo took her..." Lee explained.

Choji gawked again as they headed down the woodland path that led from the top of the monument backs the village.

"Lee, you are far more observant than people give you credit for, and while I think you're right, I think there's one flaw in this whole plan..." Choji said, a somewhat awed tone in his voice.

"What?"

"Naruko-chan didn't _get _scared before Kumo, not that I knew of, and besides, she's a girl! I don't know about you but I don't understand girls on a good day, and Naruko is really freaking out..." he blurted.

Lee grinned again.

"That's why we're going to get your cousin first my youthful friend!"

"Oh, right, because Ino's _completely _sane" Choji snorted.

Lee didn't have a reply to that. Ino _was _kinda crazy, but she was Naruko's best friend, so she'd be more use than anyone else would be. He still didn't have a reply to Choji though.

* * *

><p><em>Crash, flicker, crash flicker, crash, flicker, crash, flicker, crash, flicker, crash, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flick-<em>

_'Whelp, stop thinking about it, and get back inside your den! You really are going to get yourself killed sitting down here!'_

Naruko ignored the Kyuubi, curling herself up under the roots of the tree in the academy playground. She was deep down beneath it, and it had been the closest place she could think of. She couldn't go home, that wouldn't help at all. She had to sit here, and make sure that she got used to the noise, the light.

This was her element, she shouldn't be so afraid of it. She had to sit here and make herself get used to it. She didn't want to see Sensei's ex-girlfriend anyway, even if she was completely awesome and made her dad laugh when she came to visit.

She was best handling it by herself. What good would anyone else do? She could handle it by herself! She had handled stuff like this by herself before. She could-

_Crash, flicker, crash, flicker, crash, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flick-_

-she couldn't go home. She didn't dare move. What if it _hit_ her? What if it _wasn't_ a lightning storm? What if it was _Kumogakure_, what if Ka... If that woman's teammates had come her to get her out? What if they were coming after her again?

She couldn't go back to Kumogakure, she wouldn't go back there, she wouldn't, she wouldn't. She _die_. She'd die if she had to go back there again! She wouldn't live through that again!

'_It's a storm you stupid whelp! Cumulus nimbus cloud! Kumogakure is nowhere in sight! Move before you get yourself killed!'_

She was fine here. She was _safe_ here. As long as she kept her head down, and didn't look at anything, she was fine_._

_'Fine, if you won't listen to me, then listen to your mother!'_

"She's dead you stupid fox!" Naruko screamed at the Kyuubi, ignoring the odd feeling that tried to blur over her and stamping it back inside her.

The Kyuubi went quiet, but she still felt him in the back of her mind, as if he were pacing behind the bars of his cage.

She was fine. She didn't need any help. She didn't need to move. She couldn't move. Those bastards from Kumo would find her if she moved. She didn't want to go back to Kumo.

_Crash, flicker, crash, flicker, crash, flicker, crash, flicker, crash, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flick-_

The sound of voices drew close, and Naruko curled up and dug her self back as far as she could into the underground hole beneath the tree.

"Choji! Lee! Go get Sasuke-sensei! I found her!"

"But Ino, what if-"

"Just go! She'd hate me if I let you see her right now! I'll be fine! Go get Sensei!"

That voice wasn't an unfamiliar one, that was Ino's voice. Or maybe she was hearing things? It wouldn't be the first time she got stuck in an illusion and got fucked over for it. She could hear two sets of footsteps going away after an awkward pause, before a single set of cautious ones approached.

It _felt_ like Ino's chakra, and Naruko didn't think chakra could be replicated, in fact, she was sure it couldn't. It was Ino then... God what was wrong with her? She had been fine before the stupid storm hit! Now-

_Crash, flicker, crash, flicker, crash, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flick-_

"Naruko? Naruko, you have to come out! This trees a bloody lightning magnet you dimwit! If you stay here it'll hit you for real!_"_

_'Listen to the Yamanaka whelp. She has a better brain than you...'_ the Kyuubi encouraged.

Naruko didn't move, but she didn't curl back either. Perhaps sensing progress, Ino slowly crawled down the small chute into the hollow, just managing to squeeze in.

"I can't believe I still fit in here; remember when skipped Kunoichi Class to dig it out? Hana-sensei sent her dogs to chase us around the training field when she found out..." she grinned; Naruko eyed her warily.

"What are you doing?" she asked, cautiously rather than suspiciously.

"Keeping you company. If you aren't coming out, I'm going to sit in here with you and talk about my new diet and crap to keep you from thinking about the stuff you don't like" Ino replied promptly.

Naruko considered that, and finally scooted a bit closer to Ino, secure in the knowledge she wouldn't have to go outside, threading their arms together like they did in the academy, when they were younger at least.

Hearing a distant rumble, Ino quickly started yabbering away on her latest attempt to keep her Akimichi side of the family at bay.

"...So after Sasuke-sensei brought you home, I was freaking out because you'd been half dead when I saw you last, and your dad wouldn't let anyone see you, and my dad likes you now, so he must have been worried too, so that made me freak out more, so I was stuffing my face for about a month or something else awful..."

Naruko snickered as Ino bemoaned her bad habit of stress eating; Ino frequently stressed over things, so it was pretty frequent. She didn't have the metabolism for a stress eater though. If she'd been an Akimichi it wouldn't have been a problem, but Choji's dad's sister had married Inoichi.

By clan name laws, Ino couldn't use the Akimichi techniques, so she was at constant war with her metabolism. The mundane chatter seemed to be working, until there was another flicker of lightning. Curling up again, Ino wrapped her arms around her.

"What do you mean by half dead?" Naruko asked warily, staring at her reins in the darkness; Ino fidgeted, then scuttled closer herself.

"When we came to Kumo to get you... See, I had to look for you with my mind and I found you when... When they were attacking you. I helped Sakura and Sasuke-sensei find you. So when we did..." Ino left the sentence hanging, clearly not knowing how to express herself further.

_Crash, flicker, crash, flicker, flicker, flick-_

"Was it bad?" Naruko asked, curling up and clinging onto Ino's hand as she felt the light flickering on her face.

"Worse. Do you not remember anything?" Ino asked carefully;Naruko shook her head.

"Not much... Just the light, and... that I really, _really_ didn't like it..." she mumbled.

Ino didn't say anything, but she did lean her head on her shoulder, as if she knew exactly what she was talking about. From what Naruko gathered, having found her with her Yamanaka mind magic in Kumo meant she did.

The footsteps returned then, and another voice called down the chute, one Naruko definitely recognised, and knew couldn't possibly belong to a Kumo ninja (they'd never be able to mimic the exact tone of eternal grouchiness in his voice).

"Ino? Naruko? Are you still in there?" Sasuke asked, his face appearing dimly at the top of the entrance no doubt.

It took a great deal of coaxing, and reminding that the tree she was beneath was a lightning conductor, but after fifteen minuets, Naruko reluctantly let Ino and Sasuke pull her out from underneath the tree roots.

"You look a mess" Sasuke muttered, tuning her head in his hands, presumably checking for bruises or other minor injuries.

Naruko didn't bother arguing with him; she was covered in mud and dirt, her eyes were red and puffy, and her nose was just disgusting from all the crying she hadn't realised she'd been doing. After staring at her again, he sighed in defeat, and bent down and hugged her.

It was brief, but a hug from her teacher was usually a good one, and a second later, he had gone back to professional mode. Ignoring Sasuke as he muttered into one of the village-range microphones to someone, Choji and Lee darted over as soon as his back was turned, squashing her between them, and...

That was it. The dam burst and she just started _bawling_ into Choji's shoulder - he was warm and squashy despite being soaked to the skin too, and very good at hugging, even if it just made her want to cry more.

Sasuke pretended not to notice anything until a distant rumble echoed a little closer.

"Alright, let's get out of this weather; grab onto me, all of you" Sasuke instructed quickly, housing out his hands; Naruko latched onto one, taking Ino's in her other, going to Choji,Lee and finally back to Sasuke.

Then there was a surge of chakra, and they disappeared before the thunder cracked above them.

* * *

><p>Seconds later, there was a whirl of chakra, and Naruko knew that a shunshin technique had been used.<p>

As it dropped, she was back at her house. Her dad was in the room, but that ex of Sasuke's was talking to him, and she was kinda glad the woman was distracting him a little. She really couldn't handle talking to her dad.

Sakura was there though, and she quickly took her and Ino out of the room and ushered them into the upstairs bathroom as Sasuke did the same with Choji and Lee in the direction of the downstairs one.

Once upstairs, Sakura handed them both towels and pyjamas, scolding them for being out in the rain for so long. _'You could have caught your death in that rain!'_ she'd ranted, before giving them both a hug and scolding the, all over again before leaving them to wash up.

Once cleaned up, Naruko found herself being frog-marched to her room by the pink haired woman, along with Ino, passing Choji and lee were being directed to the spare room by Sasuke.

After she and Ino had been shoved into bed, her dad's housekeeper came in and started pouring hot tea down their throats by the kettle full, along with toast and miso soup. Once they had finished, Sakura ordered them to sleep, then turned the light out.

"What are we, _five?_" Ino snorted, flopping back onto the pillow and yawning in spite of herself. Naruko rolled her eyes, and curled up, making space for Ino. She was used to the girl stealing half her bed, sleep didn't come as it normally did though.

Naruko didn't know how long she was awake for, listening to the thunder behind the black curtains that had been added to her window, but even if she couldn't see the lightning now, she still didn't feel safe enough to sleep.

Finally reaching a solution, she shook Ino awake, and dragged her by the wrist into the room across the hall.

Though getting past Sasuke where he slept against the wall took quite a while, they managed it, and both snuck into the room Choji and Lee were sharing. Neither of them were asleep; they were both sitting on the edge of the bed talking in the jinbei shirt and trousers they had been lent.

They jumped at the noise, presumably fear of being caught awake by Sasuke-sensei, but relaxed as Ino quietly closed the door behind them. Naruko's remaining pride demanded she say nothing as she buried herself under the covers of the bed usually reserved for the Daimyō and his wife when they visited Konoha.

A few minuets later, she was squashed between Ino and Lee, Choji on Ino's other side. A few seconds passed and they were all asleep.

None of them noticed when Sasuke opened the door, poked his head round it, rolled his eyes, then quietly closed it behind him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Uh... Yeah, Karui's death was supposed to be here, but I went over my word limit by a thousand words so, I moved it. I wanted to get as much detail in this as possible, and giving Karui's death justice would have made it way too long, so that's next chapter.<strong>_

_**It was also important that Naruko finally decided to be human again, and I wanted team/Ino bonding. Especially Ino - she'll be helping a lot later, and I wanted to write a bit for Lee and Choji, since they'll be showing up a lot in the next actual arc (which now that's think about it, is probably still a few chapters away -_-;).**_

_**Song quote is from '**_**Down**_**' by Jason Walker. Just started watching the Vampire Diaries - I don't watch much tv, which is why I've only just started it (you'd think with all the channels we have since the digital switchover, there'd be something decent to watch, but you'd be thinking wrong...).**_

_**Chapters might be get a bit later, since I now have a job.**_

_**Hope you liked the chapter :)**_


	18. Interlude: Part V Justice

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Eighteen - -<br>****Interlude ~ Part V**

* * *

><p><em>'You self-destructive litte girl; pick yourself up, don't blame the world. So you screwed up<br>but you're going to be okay. All this time, you have had it in you - you just sometimesweed a push.  
><em>

* * *

><p>The next morning, after being stuffed with breakfast and more tea by the housekeeper, Choji, Lee, and Ino were shooed back to their own homes, leaving Naruko to the mercy of her teacher, his sister-in-law, her father, and his ex-girlfriend.<p>

Seated on the sofa, she felt a little cornered; there were still a few dregs of cloud flying overhead, and they were unsettling. She was kind of getting the whole_ 'talking-to-the-interrogator/psychologist-helps'_ thing now - talking to Ino had helped - but being accompanied was kind of...

It wasn't helping! She looked pathetic! She would sound pathetic, and whether or not she was quite comfortable with life again yet, she refused to look pathetic in front of her father or Sakura-nee-chan. From what Ino said last night, she'd done that more than enough already...

Especially in front of Sasuke-sensei. Gods of Fire, that was the absolute worst thing she would ever do. She was a Genin, and by law of the Ninja Foodchain (otherwise known as the Black Book), she was weak, but she made weak look fucking badass!

She didn't want to look like an idiot. She felt like one already, running off and freaking out just because of a stupid storm but...

"I think this will go better if she doesn't have an audience; everyone get out" Anko ordered, making a shoo motion with her hands at her dad and Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at her with a glare that would have sent Naruko running for the hills, but he got up and stomped out of the room instead, close behind her much more complacent father, ignoring Sakura as she followed with rolling eyes.

Once they were gone, Anko gave a sigh of relief, then slumped down onto one of the sofas.

"Alright, I'm not going to keep you too long. There a few things that need preparing for the burning that's coming up next month in T&I..." Anko said, taking.

"Burning? There's goning to be a burning?" she asked wide-eyed.

She'd read about those in the academy, during their classes on laws and how to ignore them without being caught. Maybe it was masochistic, but she had always wanted to see a real one. Only the really bad guys got a death sentence from burning, the really powerful ones (Naruko supposed that was part of it). As such, they were really rare, even for the civilian criminals?

Anko grinned at her.

"Oh there's gong to be a burning alright. It usually takes half a month to get the paperwork through or the Daimyo to approve, but Shijimi-sama had it done half a week when your dad sent him a message" se said, a certain amount of satisfaction in her voice.

"Whose it? Are they in the bingo book?" Naruko asked, enthralled; she'd never been very struck n T&I, but things like this appealed to her inner-ninja. Or possibly the Fox. More likely a mix of both.

"Karui of Kumogakure, for breaking of international law on treatment of Genin and/or children, violation of treaties between Konohagakure and Kumogakure, and severely pissing off your dad" Anko replied, a little more tersely.

Naruko flinched at the name, but then something clicked.

"I... Then that would mean... I get to do it don't I? Why didn't anyone tell me about it?" she asked, a kind of eager satisfaction building up in her chest.

Anko nodded, and sat down next o her on the sofa.

"In cases such as this, you have prime right to it. It's supposed to help you deal with the trauma, and most older ninja would have been told, and been present at the sentencing, but you're a Genin. You're not a real leaf yet, just a tiny little bud, and what that woman put you through was something even an adult wouldn't have come back from, alive or dead. Unless I think you can handle that sort of responsibility maturely, Sasuke will be performing it instead" Anko replied, not a hint of a lie in he voice.

Naruko thought about that, bringing what had happened the previous night into account; thinking about it that way, she kind of understood... But that still didn't make it fair. She should be the one to kill Karui...

"Your father told me not you tell you, but he doesn't know what he's talking about. Not for this at any rate. You need some good motivation I think, and I think denying you what you'd get if you were two years older anyway isn't the way to help. You need the choice, and I say that as a professional interrogation and torture counsellor" Anko said, taking a few of the Dango from the coffee that had been left out by the housekeeper.

Naruko gave the woman a glance, and decided that she liked Anko, even if she was Sasuke's ex-girlfriend. She had a way of saying things bluntly, but rounding off the sharper edges. Plus she got along really well with her dad.

After the five minuet chats she had with her were over, Anko usually ended up chatting with her dad for an hour or so; Naruko generally headed out for training after, so she didn't see much other than that, but if she had decided to like the woman, then she needed to be good friends with her dad too.

"...so how about it? I've been coming here every week for the past seven months, and all you've ever told me is that your 'fine'..."

"Well, it's the truth. I am fine... It just... depends..." Naruko mumbled, feeling a little foolish; at least bing in Kumo hadn't dampened her stubbornness. In fact, it had probably made it worse...

"Depends on what?"Anko asked.

"...on your definition of fine" Naruko replied; Anko gave her a narrow-eyed glance, then smiled.

"I have a friend who thinks fine stands for _'freaked-out, insecure, neurotic and emotional'_. Would that be the right kind of fine?" she asked; Naruko nodded.

"Well, in that case, I think we're already making progress" Anko grinned; it was infectious, and Naruko couldn't help grinning back.

* * *

><p>Sasuke didn't know if he should be worried about Anko getting along so well with Naruko - Anko swore a lot, and it had taken forever to get Naruko to cut down on it - but whatever she had said to the girl seemed to be helping, so he kept his minor niggles to himself.<p>

He wouldn't say Naruko was fixed yet, but the way things were going, Naruko might just pass Anko and Ibiki's evaluation, and be able to get some justice for herself with Karui's burning.

Part of Naruko's therapy was to decide which people she trusted enough to talk about Kumo with, which was restricted to her team (himself included), Ino Yamanaka, and her father. Every week, at one of the team meetings, she was supposed to talk about what she and Anko had discussed, and that was what they were doing now.

So far they had talked bout the Kyuubi (when Sasuke realised that the _'Kurama-chan'_ Naruko had been muttering about for the past few months was the nine-tailed fox, he nearly suffered heart failure), and her training decisions.

Naruko had decided to keep going with the training schedule she had picked out, since she didn't mind it. She liked her bow and arrow, and while she didn't specifically like medical training, they needed one, and she did appreciate it a lot more now (_'besides, I'm a girl - I'm not letting Choji or Lee show me up on chakra control, no offence'_).

The lightning remained a non-topic, but Naruko had admitted that Choji and her shadow clones had been helping her with her fire techniques.

They were now sitting in a circle in the team training ground, under the shelter of some trees and seated in a circle, Naruko between her teammates and opposite him.

"Okay, so Anko kept telling me I needed to talk about...well, the gory details, but I didn't want to. Because, well, Ino might get it, but not all of it. When she asked me who I would want to tell, the only person I could think of was my mum..."  
>Naruko started awkwardly; if she was going to be discussing the 'gory details' as she put it, Sasuke didn't blame her.<p>

"...I _could_ talk to her, but I can only do it once, and I'm saving it for when I get married, or have a kid, or something else sappy. Like what Ino talks to her mum about. I don't want to use it up _now_, so I had think who I'd pick second, and at first I thought Ino, because she already knows a little bit, but... Well, you're my teammates, and I would have told you first before, and I want to tell you things like this first again, so..."

She fidgeted, scratching her head for a moment.

"I'm not going to repeat any of this, so you have to listen now, because I don't know if I'll tell it again..." she said stubbornly, glancing at Choji and Lee to make sure they nodded.

Seeing them do so, she took a very long, deep breath through her nose, let it out, and focused on the ground; she had an easier time explaining things if she pretended she wasn't actually talking to them. Sasuke had seen the technique used by Ibiki's clients before.

"...when I first woke up there, they didn't have me in the... Um... The wherever I was when you me out, they put me in the cells first..."

She continued the story for about three hours. When she to to the details of the torture itself, she kept checking with him to ask if she was remembering right. A rare godsend to the mess was that she didn't remember much of it right now, though her brain had connected lightning as something to avoid underneath that.

Once it had been told, Choji and Lee started talking quietly with her, presumably asking their questions tactfully. Realising that his presence was not needed, he slowly pulled an illusion over himself so they could talk by themselves.

After some time, he had to interrupt though - Tsunade-sama had told him to bring Naruko along to the hospital today for the results of her blood test. Seeing him heading back towards him after he took off the illusion, Naruko quickly said her goodbyes to the boys.

They already knew about the hospital appointment, so they smiled and waved her off before going back to the training they had been doing earlier.

When Naruko caught up with him, she did so by taking a running jump onto his back that took his breath out for two reason. One was impact of her landing on her back, the other was surprise that she had done so.

Naruko hadn't pestered him for a piggyback ride since he took them all to he hospital for their immunisations and antidote injections.

He was so glad to see a bit of the old Naruko back that he didn't even glare at the villagers staring at him as they walked through the village to the hospital.

* * *

><p>"<em>What?<em>" Sasuke-sensei asked disbelievingly after Tsunade had explained the results of her blood test.

Naruko felt his confusion tenfold. If what her Baa-chan had just told her was true then rather than have been hindered, her Hirashin had been stepped up a few levels that usually took ten generations of selective breeding in the space of months.

They were currently sitting in Tsunade's office, Naruko in her usual spot on her desk, seated beside her baa-chan where she sat in her chair. Sasuke had a normal seat.

"I said that Naruko's Hirashin has turned into complete bloodline - there's absolutely nothing wrong with it." Tsunade smiled.

"I got that part, but _how_?" Sasuke twitched irritably; Naruko didn't really know why her Baa-chan liked messing about with him so much, but it bought a snicker to her lips.

Tsunade smirked impishly, then turned towards her.

"Naruko, have you done the reading up on treating ninjas with bloodlines I set your class at the end of last weeks lesson yet?" she asked; Naruko nodded.

"Alright, then you should understand; when bloodlines start forming, they form from a chakra pattern in the blood cells. You get a chakra pattern when you use a particular technique over a long period of time. If it's a technique used often by a previous generation, then there will be a slight tendency for it to be passed on, and the pattern would build up from that onto your blood cells" Tsunade explained patiently.

"So... The body learns our favourite techniques? And even if it isn't a bloodline, then a kid would still get an tendency for the techniques their parents learnt?" Naruko asked; Tsunade nodded.

"That's exactly it. Bloodlines have to start somewhere after all. Now, the two generations between you and your father is nowhere near enough to build up that chakra pattern I mentioned to the strength it needs to result in this, but you have some extenuating circumstances..."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"The nine-tails?" he asked anxiously_._

_'Of course he would blame me...'_ Kurama muttered, sounding like he was rolling his eyes - Naruko ignored him.

"No, it was actually her mother's longevity bloodline, though I think the Kyuubi's accelerated healing did help it get started. The Uzumaki blood did most of the work though" Tsunade said, sounding surprised herself.

"I didn't think the Uzumaki bloodline could do that; I know it feeds of another person's chakra later on, keeps the life force strong and stuff but..."

But creating a whole new bloodline was not something Naruko had considered her mother's bloodline capable of. Then again, she didn't know that much about it. All the information on it had been lost when the Uzumaki clan scattered after the war. She had a few scrolls from her mother, but that was it...

Her mother... Maybe it was her. Her dad had already said he'd sealed a small, conscious portion of her chakra in he when he told her about the Kyuubi. If there had been a time of her life she wanted to talk to her mother, now was it, even if she wanted to save the encounter.

Her mother knew what it was like in a way. She'd never been tortured that she knew of, but Kumogakure had kidnapped her too. She'd get it... Maybe it was her. Or her chakra at any rate, kicking in to try and help her a little...

Or maybe she was just being a romantic thinker. Either case, it still didn't make much sense of how it had been managed.

"I can't be too certain of the details but I think it started when you started living off of your bloodline for those first few weeks, a side effect from being used so much so suddenly. It started connecting the pattern in your chakra that formed from using the Hiraishin so much to your blood cells."

"But how did it get this advancedso quickly? That wouldn't be enough for it to form into a bloodline! I did the reading on Konoha's eye-bloodlines, and they had elements that helped them along at first - mum's bloodline couldn't just make another from scratch" Naruko said, frowning as she went over all the reading she'd done in her mind.

Tsunade grinned at her.

"You'd _have_ done your homework, and you're right. An element is needed. It's what the chakra patterns use to fix themselves to your blood cells, since most chakra natures are genetic. They're like a glue. You could call them the_ 'common bloodlines'_. If you linked back to the founding days, you'd probably find all today's fire users have a common ancestor, but back to the topic..."

Naruko sat up a little, leaning forward in absolute fascination as Tsunade started drawing diagrams on a sheet of parchment.

"When the lightning was used on you, you were still living on your mother's bloodline. You already had an affinity for lightning after your wind element, and your mothers bloodline serves as a life extension-"

"It didn't activate did it? The chakra thing? Because that'd be bad! I've got nowhere to get extra from!" Naruko garbled in panic.

Tsunade shook her head.

"No, that won't happen until you get a boyfriend. unless you haven't told us something?"

Naruko flushed and quickly shook her head; she should have known that - her dad had never explained how it happened, but he'd given her a warning to make sure she was either married or in a long term relationship before getting her bloodline involved (whatever that meant).

All this was going over her head though, so she panicked.

"Good. Now, when all the lightning chakra was pushed into your body, your mother's bloodline acted as it was supposed to, and started doing whatever it could to make sure you'd survive it. It already had the chakra patterns for Hirashin, from your father and your own use of it, and you have two genetically inherited chakra types from him, so I think it used them to fix the Hirashin chakra pattern into your blood cells" Tsunade finished, handing her the sheet of diagrams to look at.

Sasuke-sensei was giving them a look too; he had since moved closer to the desk to get a better ear for what Tsunade was explaining.

"Is that where the Kyuubi cones into it?" he asked; Tsunade nodded.

"Yes, though I think it would be better to say it was the healing in general. After we found you Naruko, we had to do a lot of quick healing on some of the burns and gashes the lightning had given you, but we also had to take off the chakra suppressants so that the Fox could heal you himself. Between him, myself and Sakura, I think we unwittingly speeded the process along till it was developing as a normal bloodline would in a child you're age."

"So he didn't actually do something to secure it?" Sasuke asked.

_'Oh please, I had my hands full healing you and keeping your mind on one piece - where on earth would I find the time for genetic mutation between that?'_ the fox snorted again.

"Not a thing; healing encourages the body's natural responses, and the Uzumaki bloodline connected its own attempts to keep Naruko alive to that. Even if the Kyuubi hadn't been healing her, I think that it would have manifested later on anyway" Tsunade said, taking the diagrams away.

"How does she use it now then? Is there anything you can tell from the blood tests?"

Tsunade picked up a folder with Naruko's name on it (a rather large one) and flipped to the most recent page scanning her eyes over it.

"You'll have to find someone who can teach her how to combine two elements, the same ones would be ideal if you could find someone. As for the location finding... I think that's still the same, except you just don't write the seals on kunai or need them more than once anymore. I can only suggest you try writing the location seals on your skin and absorb them, then try something else if that doesn't work, but the elements are the driving force now. She'll have to learn the two of them, and how to combine them" Tsunade replied, frowning.

Naruko watched as Sasuke grimace, presumably in the same line of thought as Tsunade. There were only four wind users in the whole of Konoha, herself included, and none of them could combine two elements together, and only her dad had lightning as his second element.

Sasuke was probably anxious over the training part too. While today had been a big step in telling her team what she remembered, actually using lightning was still a long way off.

"Will it get passed on? It isn't just another _weird_ thing that only affects me is it?" Naruko asked, hoping to distracted the two adults and herself from the gloomy thoughts.

Tsunade glanced up from her thoughts, then nodded, smilingly.

"I tested for that, and it's as viable a bloodline as the sharingan or Aburame insect hosting. It's an dominant-passive one too, which is a _very_ good thing" she smiled; Naruko mimicked it - getting some good news for once was exhilaratingly refreshing.

"What? What does _that_ mean?" Sasuke asked.

"It just means that it has a _very_ high chance of being passed on, if she marries right" Tsundae shrugged.

Sasuke glared at her again, and judging by the confused twitch of his eyebrow, Naruko guessed that Tsunade-baa-chan liked winding Sasuke up simply because he was so funny when he was confused. Tsunade rolled her eyes at his glare, and Naruko forced back a snicker.

"For example, you have the Sharingan. The Sharingan is a completely dominant bloodline. If you married someone else with a bloodline, chances are the Sharingan would be the bloodline passed on. However, Naruko's is _both_, something its copied form her mother's bloodline probably, so if she were to marry a Sharingan user, or a Hyūga-"

Naruko made a very disgusted noise, at which Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"- or another person with a complete dominant bloodline, it would get passed on, along with the Sharingan, because it would react as a passive bloodline to the gene mix. In contrast, if she married someone with a complete passive bloodline, like the Nara bloodline, then it would come out over that instead, because it's a dominant type of passive bloodline..." Tsunade grinned, mischievously.

"...In essence, it means that if she married a Sharingan user, then her children would have the Uzumaki blood, the sharingan, and this new bloodline" the woman finished.

Naruko didn't get why Sasuke-sensei was glaring at her Baa-chan, but she didn't really care.

She finally had a bit of good news come from this whole fiasco. Her luck had finally started turning back to normal, and for the first time in months, Naruko felt '_fine_' in the normal sense of the word.

* * *

><p>Sasuke watched as Naruto held her breath, standing right at the edged of her father's desk, fingers clutching the edge tightly as her father read over the psychological analysis Ibiki and Anko had given her at the start of the week.<p>

She had just received the sealed report to take to her dad, right in the middle of practice, and so the whole team had gone a small expedition to the Hokage's office.

Minato's eyes scanned over the report that Ibiki and Anko had given him with very careful eyes, as if trying to be objective about it as he would any other ninja. Sasuke had a suspicion that Minato did not want Naruko anywhere near Karui, let alone be the one burning her, but he had to be objective, and be fair.

His lips pursed, and he set the papers down, sharing out of one of the windows for a moment, then he glanced at Naruko, or more selectively at the twisted bit of hope that she as unsuccessfully trying to hold back.

Then he sighed in defeat, pulled the execution authorisation form forward and signed it, before stamping it with a red seal.

"Alright, you can do it, but I'm only agreeing to is because Anko and Ibiki are both recommending it. I don't like it, and I expect you to approach this maturely. Understand?" he said, a strict reluctant tone in his voice.

Naruko nodded, not making a sound in case he changed his mind.

* * *

><p>The execution cells of Konohagakure were a bit more comfortable than the regular ones; Naruko watched as she walked past a few bars as she headed down the corridor behind her father, and the group of ninja's from Kumogakure who had arrive to oversee the trial.<p>

Her dad had tried to have it so they couldn't come, but he couldn't get around _every_ bit of red tape. There were only three of them though, and Sasuke was following her, glaring daggers into the back of Darui's head (apparently they had met before, and Sasuke had problems with him).

Besides, they wouldn't dare try to attack her when her dad was right next to her. She really didn't like seeing them, but she was safe. She didn't really count on her uncle's protection, but he'd assured her that he didn't know she was his niece when Karui caught her.

The jinchuriki guy she liked though; he was funny, and he gave her a Daifuku. Naruto hadn't met another jinchuriki before, but she felt a kind of camaraderie. She didn't trust him though - he was a Kumo ninja, who knew what he was thinking.

She had been a little anxious seeing Darui again, but Sasuke had told her that he had told them where to find her, so maybe he had his conscience in the right place. She didn't trust him though.

The main group was ushered on to the viewing area out in the central platform, but Sasuke hung back for a moment.

"Do you remember the handsigns?" he asked simply.

Naruko nodded and ran her fingers through the handsigns he had shown her for one of the ugliest fire techniques his clan had ever concocted. Nerves she hadn't realised were there slowly frazzled away when he asked her to go through it a few more times, _'just so I know you have the jist of it'_.

One of the guards came out and, hearing the silent message to enter, Naruko instinctively gripped onto Sasuke's shirt hem; she wanted to kill Karui herself. She had suffered, so Karui had to as well. It was only fair, but that didn't mean she couldn't be nervous.

She was glad that she had to be accompanied in by her teacher in a way; while she could kill the woman, she was still a Genin, and since her dad wasn't allowed to do it, the responsibility to make sure she didn't... Faint or something fell to Sasuke-sensei. It reassured her immensely?

Following the ANBU into the room, Naruko first glanced at the group of officials who needed to be present at the ceremony; Shijimi-sama was there, her dad, the three men from Kumo, the ANBU and ANBU-yu heads, Homura and Koharu, Tsunade, and the village clan heads, and the civilian council head Mebuki Haruno.

Then Naruko turned her gaze onto Karui, dropping her hand from the hem of her teacher's shirt without a hint of hesitation in it.

Naruko didn't remember most of her time in Kumo, but her dad had to come into her room a few times a month because she woke up scared, paranoid, and screaming in tears over something she didn't even remember.

Naruko had a new appreciation for caution, and it was one she would rather have done without.

She couldn't sit through a thunderstorm, or get within ten metres of her teacher when he was practicing one of his lightning techniques during team training. Her life had changed permanently, and not for the better.

All because of this woman...

The ANBU who had led her into the room read out the sentence as well as her list of crimes, before leaving the room.

"If you want to say something to her you can - no-one will object, it's quite common actually" Sasuke told her quietly.

Naruko thought about that, and then took the steps forward so she was in place to start the technique when given the signal to do so. The woman was standing against a metal post, manacles on chains keeping her feet on the floor, her hands set above her head in cuffs that were part of the post itself.

She didn't have any clothes on either - since that would actually hinder the specific technique she was using to kill her.

It had been developed before the clan wars as a silent killing technique. The chakra in the technique didn't ignite till it hit human skin. Only then did it spread. The perfect technique for staging a house fire. It was only recently that it had been adapted for the purposes of a suffering execution.

"_You're_ going to kill me? Really? Do you even have enough chakra?" Karui snorted; there was a waver in her voice in spite of herself, but her one remained mocking.

"We have a saying in Konoha that developed during the second shinobi war; we were taught it in the academy when we were learning about the relationships between elemental chakras. You might like to hear it" Naruko relied, her face stony.

"Enlighten me" Karui sneered, a role of her eyes despite the panic that was spreading off her face.

"Whenever lightning strikes, no matter what, it will _always_ start a fire" Naruko hissed.

Then the gong sounded, and her hands started moving automatically through the different hand signs. Naruto had practiced the technique all day everyday ever since she'd been given permission to kill Karui.

It was the first fire technique she had learned. Performing the last preparation seal, the tiger seal, she muttered the chakra release so quietly only Karui and Sasuke heard it.

"Katon; Niku o taberu kasai no jutsu!"

Holding two fingers to her lips, auto gave a large gist of breath to them , and watched as a thin trail of glowing sparks headed through the air towards Karui of Kumogakure.

The second they hit her skin, tiny fires began to break out over it, and she started to scream, as they spread, leavn blisters and burns as it moved over her skin. After a few moments, the flames began to grow, feeding off her skin before smothering her in brilliant orange flame?

Her job done, Naruko turned her back and left the room.

The screaming got louder as she headed down the corridor, and after a moment, the tense winding of her stomach needed to be relieved. There were no buckets in the ANBU division, so Naruko just picked out a corner to empty the contents of her stomach in.

Sasuke had been following her, and with one hand on her shoulder, he pulled her hair out of her face with the other before it got messy. She could smell the flesh burning now, and she threw up again as it filled her nose.

She wasn't having trouble with what she'd _done_ to Karui. Naruko had been told that the woman had put her under lightning for hours every day for at least two weeks, and she believed it.

The vomiting was coming from months of stress disappearing in the words that had started karui's death. She was _dying_, she was going to _die_, and Naruko would never have to worry about her again. The relief was so _immense_, so unexpected...

Without that woman around, she might actually be able to get her life back, actually trust her teammates the way she used to...

She was out of her life, gone. The feeling of needing to be cautious, the one that had been _lingering_ in her every thought for the past seven months, was _finally_ disappearing...

Even vomiting her guts out, Naruko hadn't felt better.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Niku o taberu kasai no jutsu: Fire Style; Art of the Flesh-Eating Flame. <strong>_

_**Probably not grammatically accurate, but I thought it sounded good - got some good F-Alliteration there - and I've been using the Japanese name for techniques when I've identified them directly so far anyway.**_

_**I won't be making up too many techniques, so don't worry about being spammed with any. I just felt this was something that would not be done with a common old fireball technique, so I had to improvise.**_

_**We will get some actual time-skipping next chapter, and some humour. Hopefully. You'll also see a little homage to a team-7 fic that spurred some ideas for this story in the first place if you pay attention ;)**_

_**I think that will be the last chapter before the real romance stuff starts *dances* apologies for keeping you waiting so long, but I really couldn't get this chapter out without having Naruto buckle first, and then the chapter was too long and blegh...**_

_**I'm sure you get the picture. I know Karui's death wasn't as long as I was making it out, but... Well I didn't like the long version. It as more about getting Naruko closure, and it didn't need to be long for that.**_

_**Apologies if my grammar is even worse than it normally is; had a really full on week. Just finished my first shot of managing the shop by myself and had nearly had a heart-attack because everything decided to go wrong when my supervisor wasn't around, and had go 200 miles south to Perth (not Australia) for the University status thing (I did meet the Queen and talk to Prince Phillip though), and I'm kinda knackered ^^;**_

_**The chapter quote is from 'All This Time (Pick-Me-Up Song)' by Maria Mena.**_

_**Hope you liked the chapter :)**_


	19. Interlude: Part VI Adolescence

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Nineteen - -<br>****Interlude ~ Part VI**

* * *

><p><em>'When you run away from harm will you run back into my arms, like you did when you were young? Will you<br>come back to me? I will hold you tightly when the hurting kicks in. Life is beautiful, but it's complicated.'_

* * *

><p>After the execution of Karui, Naruko had bluntly stated to her team that she was going to <em>'get her awesome back'<em>, and that was exactly what she did, even while sticking to the training schedule they had started after her abduction.

After several more months of practice, she figured out how to store techniques in scrolls. As she had previously told Choji on the subject of exploding seals, doing the same with metal arrows didn't take much adaptation, and she had given Lee the fright of his life firing one that let out a blast of wind right near his feet.

After that, had turning out to be absolutely _vicious_ with the bow and arrow; she had used invisible seals to store hundreds of arrows into the sheath she wore on her back. She had also linked the seals with her blood to her arrow stores at home, so they were never empty. She only kept a few in the holster for the sake of appearances.

Some of the arrows had timed seals carved into their heads that would explode after a few seconds inside someone or hitting the ground, reacting to the input of blood or dirt. Some released smoke from their fletching when the point hit the ground, some were small with thin heads and had sedatives laced on them for capturing.

Some had barbaric edges, some were poisoned. Some released useful seals into the ground; the list went on and on, and all she had to do to get one was run a bit of blood over the handle of her bow, and the seals connecting it to the masses stored in her quiver brought one straight to her.

The arrows in the sheath were mostly for show or small fry, though that wasn't to say she couldn't use them properly. Every single arrow had a different fetching, and Naruko never confused them. _Ever_.

She had spent weeks with a blindfold on her face learning to recognise her arrows by their different fletchings with her fingers. He'd never been so nervous about bows until Naruko took up hers, but he was never the more grateful or excited about her training.

She still hated medical training, and frequently complained about it, but her chakra control was constantly improving, and her knowledge of poison was now very extensive. The poison on her arrows was even home made.

Naruko had used her passion for gardening, the secretions from the skin of four poison dart toads (her thirteenth birthday present from himself and the boys), and drops of their blood to create a poison that would not work on them, but would have anyone else frothing at the mouth.

As she had once said, she had a new respect for healing even if she didn't like it, so she trained as hard as Ino, Hinata, and Kiba did. It helped out since Choji had broken his fingers a few times with that hammer of his.

There was still no progress on her lightning training, and by association her Hiraishin, but her wind techniques had been steadily improving, and her fire ones were quickly catching up. Currently, she was trying to find a way of adding elemental chakra to the Rasengan.

She had sort of managed it with a shadow clone, but she claimed that was inconvenient, so she was still trying to do it in one hand. Sasuke was torn between fearing and anticipating of the results of her experimenting.

To make up for the lack of Hiraishin, she had trained with weights, so her speed had improved to pass over Lee's (which was nothing to snort at), though it was only by millimetres that Sasuke gave to her lighter build and general body structure.

There wasn't really much she could do with her mother's bloodline without scrolls to learn from, but she practised everyday, and her chakra chains had became as varied as her arrows in some ways. As for the Hiraishin...

Well, Naruko was only capable of fending off lightning attacks at the moment; until she could use them herself, it would stay stuck as it was. Besides, he hadn't figured out how to teach her to combine it with wind yet, and that was a big part of it.

Her current focus besides everything else was improving her illusions; he'd made sure to start at the very beginning again. It took his time away from Choji and Lee to focus on it so much, but he made it clear that it wasn't favouritism. _They_ were both competent with illusions - Naruko was _not_.

He'd started her back at the very beginning all over again, making sure that it was ingrained properly in her mind this time. She'd never be good at them, or specialise in them, but he wasn't going to let her fall pray to them anymore. The training wasn't important though.

Naruko had done exactly what she swore she would do; she had worked hard, and had finally managed to bring herself out of her depression. She wasn't ready to tackle her lightning chakra just yet, and having his own share of unpleasant experiences, Sasuke suspected her fear of it would never really go away, but she was fighting again.

That was all that counted.

He did wish she'd do something more practical with her hair though; that bit of orange fabric she used as a headband didn't really do much good in getting her fringe away from her face. She was constantly flicking it out of the way, even in the middle of a fight, and she refused to cut it.

He'd expressed his irritation on the subject, but she stuck her fingers in her ears and began swearing loudly every time he'd tried to convince her to cut it. His own dislike of swearwords when uncalled for had been his defeat in those arguments.

He was half tempted to get his mother to wash her mouth out with soap again, but she'd zipped off before he could catch her (Sasuke wondered if she really needed the hiraishin back at all).

In any case, everything had been going well, but of course, things never stayed that easy for long.

* * *

><p>His first clue was when he was going over some earth based attacks with Choji.<p>

Earth wasn't his element, but he could at least help out with getting the manipulation of the chakra within the techniques right thanks to his Sharingan. As he was helping Choji, he'd had Lee and Naruko training together.

They had to take turns, because even with all their stamina only Naruko could keep up with that of Lee's. Her stamina and chakra stores had completely revered in the past year. Soon to be fourteen, Naruko was well and truly on her way to recovery.

"Take a break you three – you've been training since 5AM. You need some lunch if you don't want to collapse" he interrupted, garnering three glares – none of them liked having training interrupted.

Well, Choji had been unenthusiastic at first, but Sasuke grudgingly believed that it was his crush on Naruko that was to thank for his interest in training. The plump boy had confessed that since Naruko was more interested in strong fighters like Kiba, he wouldn't stand a chance unless he was a strong ninja too.

The fact that he had seen Naruko talking animatedly to the Inuzuka boy during a joint training session with Sakura's team had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Sasuke had pointedly ignored that admission as best he could; if it got him training he didn't care what the kid used as motivation, but he was not getting involved in kid crushes.

With the word _'break'_ Naruko's head immediately pricked up, and she regained some of the energy she had lost fighting Lee. After arguing, what Sasuke suspected to be a _horribly_ effective rendition of fake tears, and some eyelash fluttering, she had coaxed her team-mates into Ichiraku's once again.

And he had somehow ended up paying for it, _again_. Sasuke had noticed a very significant _diet_ in his wallet ever since had been lumped with the three brats. Well, Naruko was the only real brat – Lee and Choji were fairly well behaved compared to the yellow-haired whelp.

Seated at the bar, Sasuke was mourning his recent pay-check as it disappeared in the form of noodles and broth down the girl's throat when it happened. It was only a casual joking remark from Lee, and the idiot probably meant it as a compliment, but apparently fate was against them.

"Your love of ramen is stupendous as always Naruko-chan! As expected of my one true rival, but please take care that your youthful love of this noodle delight does not supply you with so much youthful strength that your body must process it with means other than the muscles you have youthfully worked so hard to form!" he advised around his own batch of Sasuke's wallet– of noodles.

Sasuke was by no means fluent in whatever language Lee mixed into the everyday tongue used by sane people, but he was pretty certain that the kid had just told the girl not to eat so much ramen that she got fat.

Thankfully Choji didn't go nuts since Lee didn't actually use the forbidden word, but still... Hadn't someone told him that calling a girl fat was just a death sentence? Never mind a Kunoichi, they _all_ reacted badly to that word!

It didn't matter how old the girl was; Sasuke had said the same thing in the same joking manner to Sakura once when they were Genin. It had been before she had started training with Tsunade, and she had _still_ broken his nose for the comment, before bursting into insecure tears.

Still, he hadn't expected Naruko to _dump her ramen over Lee's head_ for the comment. He stared at the blonde in shock, a gaze mimicked by Choji and Lee as she calmly turned to the stunned ramen vendor. Sasuke didn't even protest when she asked for another bowl after _'accidentally dropping'_ her fifth one.

He was too stunned – Naruko had _poured her ramen_ over Lee. What kind of _foul_ mood was she in to do that? God this was why he hated kids. He didn't understand them at all. As soon as she was finished her second fifth bowl, Naruko stood up, and informed them she was going to do some solo training at home for the rest of the day before disappearing in a burst of speed.

Sasuke stared at Lee – who was still catatonic from the sudden ramen drenching Naruko had given him – and then at Choji – who was trying to ignore the horrible atmosphere by eating another bowl – then ran a hand over his eyes in frustration.

God, he _hated_ kids.

* * *

><p>Naruko returned to training the next day, and her mood was <em>foul<em>. Normally she would train with her team-mates but instead she just used the training as a means to vent some frustration before she snapped.

He didn't know what caused it, and it didn't look like either of the two boys did either, but one minuet she was using Choji as a punching bag, the next she was stomping back home in _tears_ to do some private training.

Sasuke really didn't know what he was supposed to do with the girl.

He knew it wouldn't do any good to confront her just yet though, so he continued to train the two boys until Gai came to pick up Lee for some family training. Meaning he had plenty of time for him to sort out the damn female so Lee and Choji didn't get a broken nose too.

Once the boy's foster father had picked him up from training, Sasuke gave Choji the evening off, and headed off into direction of the village centre. In particular, the Hokage mansion whilst sending a message to the Uchiha compound...

* * *

><p>"So... Sasuke, I'm sorry, but I really don't follow this at all; <em>Why<em> am I here again?" Mikoto asked, as Sasuke knocked on the main entrance of the Hokage's mansion.

It wasn't really a mansion – it had three floors yes, but one was given over completely to an indoor training room. That was something that even the minor clans had several versions of. His own had them throughout the whole Uchiha district, and there were even more public training grounds.

"You are here to restrain her when she tries to run away – you'll have to be quick though. She's bloody _fast_. I tell myself it's a good thing, but right now it's just a _pain_..." Sasuke replied, knocking on the door again.

He could have asked Sakura to help him out, but after some thought, he'd reconsidered. He had taken his team to the training grounds at his parents house a few times when their usual ones were busy, and he'd have to have been a _fool_ not to notice how attached Naruko was to his mother.

The woman struck the fear of the fire gods into her yes, but she always jumped up first when his mother asked for help setting the dinner table. She was a role model for a girl, and frankly Sasuke was relived that _someone_ was. She may have a crush on him, but that didn't mean she _listened_ to him.

It was often the opposite actually. Far too often.

There was no answer, and Sasuke knocked again, frown on his face deepening. He knew there were no house helpers except for in the mornings, and her father wouldn't be done in the main office for hours yet. The brat was just ignoring the damn door.

He could sense her damn chakra on the other side of it for god's sake!

"Sasuke, would you tell me what's wrong with her again? Maybe you're just overreacting..." his mother ventured, eyeing his minor attack on the door in what appeared to be scepticism.

"I'm not sure really. _Something's_ wrong though. She poured her _ramen_ all over Lee yesterday because he inadvertently called her fat, and she stomped off from training this afternoon... Speaking of which, I think you should wash her mouth out again – she was using some horribly colourful language..." Sasuke muttered, finally giving up and charging some heated, sparking fire chakra into his palm.

If she didn't want to open the door, he'd just have to break in. He'd have to do some fast talking when her father found out, but he was certain he could persuade the man in to seeing things his way. Or at least, he hoped so. Unfortunately, his mother had other ideas, and her hand on his wrist stalled the flow of his chakra.

"Why don't you let me try talking to her first before you vandalise the Hokage's house Sasuke?" she asked, the smile on her face indicating the request was anything but.

Sasuke quickly stepped back, and did a quick body flicker into one of the nearby trees to watch as his mother softly knocked on the door and said something through it. His eyebrow began to twitch in irritation as the door creaked open and the blonde girl peered around the door suspiciously.

His mother bent down to her eye level and spoke at length with her for a few, moments. Sasuke's eyes widened when after being stunned herself, Naruko's high attitude crumpled and she began bawling her eyes out in his mother's arms.

Sasuke stared down from the tree in horror and irritation as Naruko stepped aside to let his mother inside the house like an old friend.

* * *

><p>Sasuke eyed his female Kunoichi suspiciously the next day as she ran around the training field.<p>

She had immediately apologised to the two boys, and was now in the midst of a small Elemetal shogi battle with Choji. Elemental training came with the formation of the playing tiles, and strategy with the game itself, along with patience and concentration. Sasuke was rather proud of the idea.

He didn't have a clue what his mother had talked to her about (the woman point blank refused to tell him when he asked), but he needed to know. If something like this happened again in the future, he wanted to handle it by himself.

And so he confronted her about it, only for her to turn bright red and run off in the other direction, yelling about horrible, insensitive, nosy, stupid, jerk-ass teachers. In the end, the familiarity of the situation finally _dawned_ on him.

After Sakura had broken his nose, and he'd been healed up, Ibiki had dragged her to see some female friend of his. He had then given himself and his equally perplexed brother a conversation on... _Oh hell_.

This wasn't part of his job description!

Sasuke decided right there and then that, given they had present families of their own, he would just _ignore_ it when Choji and Lee hit puberty too. Naruko was an exception. She sort of needed a female perspective, since her mother was dead. In fact, that might have been the whole problem given how much Naruko admired her mother.

But he was _not_ explaining _that_ to her! While he had his reservations about getting his mother to help, she liked her. A lot, and Sasuke would be damned if he ignored that. Sakura was good, but she was as busy as Tsnade, Anko too and besides, his mother liked fussing over her (inner desire for female children coming out probably).

He wasn't doing the puberty thing for the boys either. He absolutely _refused_ to even broach the subject.

* * *

><p>Sasuke's resolve was astoundingly un-resoloute.<p>

It wasn't until a few days later, when they were training elements again, that Choji had innocently remarked that within Naruko's earshot she was getting angrier more easily lately, and Sasuke had been forced to explain the joys of growing up to them.

Complete with a bag of ice on Choji's (thankfully unbroken) nose.

Really, how did the academy teach these kids anything about seduction tactics, especially the girls, without covering the basic mechanics on the facts of life? He'd taken them to the hospital, and _none_ of them knew! Not _one!_

Well, he supposed Naruko did now. That saved him the awkward group discussion, thank the _gods_. He wouldn't have lived through explaining the facts of life to Naruko and the boys. That would have been awful.

After handing Choji the ice bag, he sat down in front of them and gave them, for all intents and purposes, a blunt step by step explanation, along with a few do's and dont's that came along with the relevant subjects involved from some of his own earlier (in other words less '_exuberant_') experiences.

Lee was bright red throughout he while thing; he was the quietest Sasuke had ever seen him, though he did turn slightly green when Sasuke started explaining periods. Choji on the other hand seemed to have a morbid curiosity; he had a question every five minuets. He got points for asking sensible questions though.

"So... Once a month Naruko-chan will be mad at us for nothing?" he asked.

"Not mad per se, just easy to anger. Which you don't want to be doing. Civilian women are bad enough - you don't want to be getting a Kunoichi angry. Trust me, there are healthier ways to look for a fight..." he advised.

The tone he used, one that he only used when speaking from experience, seemed to drill the message home to them - the two boys gulped and shared a nervous glance.

"And chocolate'll make her calm down?" Lee asked, taking much more interest.

"If she likes it enough. It doesn't always work..."

"Naruko-chan doesn't like chocolate much - she likes wagashi better" Choji commented; Sasuke ignored his need to know that knowledge.

"Watch your words too. You never know what innocuous word will make girls start bawling their eyes out... Or as seems to be more prevalent with Naruko, bawling and physical retaliation..."

"I don't feel very confident about all this..." Lee confessed.

Sasuke had to agree with him. The poor boy didn't look very good at all.

"That's normal Lee. The opposite would be worrying" he reassured him.

Lee didn't look very convinced, but Sasuke couldn't blame him - _he_ didn't understand women when he was thir age, and growing older hadn't helped much. In fact, unless he knew better, it had only gotten _worse_.

A thought hit him at that moment; the brats had hit puberty. That meant the two boys in front of him would start shooting up like weed in the space of weeks, get squeaky voices, and ask awkward questions about women that he'd never be able to answer (because he didn't know the answers either).

And Naruko! She'd get boobs without permission and curves, and drive her teammates mad when she started the real seduction training at the hospital (it was mandatory, and he was sure that it was half the reason Itachi had been so taken with Sakura when they were still on a team).

Choji trialled after her like a puppy already! If she got boobs he'd probably end up getting injured in training from not paying attention! And then there was Sakura's Inuzuka boy - he was her friend, and they were the ones that were the most suspicious...  
>He should know - Hana Inuzuka's father had always glared at him when he was a Genin (before his wife scared him away permanently), and he'd been pretty right about that.<p>

He wasn't worried about Choji - the kid wouldn't harm a fly outside of work - but Kiba was impulsive, or so he heard from Sakura, and while nowhere near as much as she used to, Naruko still sought trouble for the sake of of it...

Images of the future flooding is mind, and Sasuke groaned as he helped Choji adjust his ice-pack, silently complaining about how he did _not_ sign up for this.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Heh heh; some team bonding , in a sense, and a little tribute to a favourite oneshot of mine called '<strong>_**Troubling New Developments**_**' by SicTransitGloria. Its a Team7 one I highly reccommend.**_

_**Naruko had to grow up sometime, and I couldn't resist a slight tribute or the opportunity for bad humour (I say bad, because what I find funny other people usually don't). I know Sasuke sounded more like a troubled dad at the end, but bear in mind this what the norm is at the moment. He has no reason to think any differently... yet.**_

_**Besides, Naruko never struck me as the type to be concerned by social opinion. Sasuke on the other hand... I kinda feel sorry for him. He's going to suffer and make a lot of bad decisions in upcoming chapters. Seriously, this is the last interlude. Next chapter will have suddenly jumped a few years. I really mean it this time too, thou i do beg patience. There will be fight scenes, and I'm sure most of you know my opinions on those by now -_-;**_

_**Chapter Quote is from '**_**Life is Beautiful**_**' by Vega4.**_  
><em><strong>Hope you liked the chapter ;)<strong>_


	20. Chunin: Part I

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty - -<br>****Chunin ~ Part I**

* * *

><p><em>'When I wake up the dream isn't done; I want to see your face and know I made it home.<br>If nothing is true, what more can I do? I am still painting flowers for you.'_

* * *

><p>"Are you getting up any time soon? We have to talk."<p>

The voice permeated Sasuke's sleep-fogged mind, and his spirits drooped; he wanted to _sleep_. Naruko had been exhausting in training the day before. The girl just didn't know when to quit - maybe he shouldn't have told them they were being placed in the Chunin exams...

"That's not good..." Sasuke groaned, flopping sitting up in bed, trying to figure out who was talking to him.

He was never the most coherent in the mornings. There was a reason his Genin always got more of a lie-in than others, and it wasn't from the generosity of his heart, that was for sure.

Glancing around, he stupidly searched for a pair of boxers and a t-shirt for several minuets. He quickly gave it up as a bad job and just pulled one of the extra blankets left at the foot of his bed around himself instead like a coat.

Stumbling into the kitchen (from where he smelled tea), he finally recognised Anko, she had made herself quite comfortable on his sofa with some tea and a couple of rice balls (he'd have to throw out his rice now - all those snakes up her sleeves and all).

"You're really funny in the mornings" she mused as he banged around his kitchen trying to find the necessary requirements for tea and trying to keep his blanket around him.

He grunted, and continued to bang around looking for his chakra and blood seal secured tea tin. He always kept it locked up, so at least no one could poison his tea...

"So, we need to stop having sex, today preferably" Anko said bluntly.

Sasuke stopped looking for his tea and stared at her in confusion. No sex? _Why_? Oh god, he wasn't _loosing it_ already was he? He was only _thirty-three!_ He couldn't be loosing it at thirty three!

"I like a guy, a lot, and I'm pretty certain the feeling is mutual - I don't want him thinking I'm not single. He's _nice_. That'd be rude. The only reason I kept it going _this_ long is because he was still missing his wife, and I'm not any replacement" she explained.

Sasuke grunted and nodded (now that he wasn't worrying about his virility, he didn't really _care_ - it wasn't like they were breaking up again or something), before going back to his searching.

He couldn't find his tea was certain someone had moved his tea now... Where was it? Why did it always disappear when he first woke up?

"Oh for the love of fire, just take the cup I left out for you and swallow one of you antidotes afterwards you paranoid moron" Anko bristled.

Sasuke glared at her, but picked up the cup of tea beside the water boiler and sat down next to her as he sipped at it cautiously. He'd have to remake his antidotes to a new mix too...

"Sasuke, next time your mother sets you up, promise me you'll give it a chance? You just don't _function_ properly by yourself. I'm surprised you haven't died living by yourself already..." she scolded.

"..s'not my fault. Orochimaru's fault..." he muttered.

He wasn't lying either. A side effect from the cursed seal experimentation was the lethargy he sometimes suffered in the morning; it was really the cursed seal trying to take him over subtly, more carefully.

Anko didn't have it because she'd got an earlier version. His was a few steps up, so it had taken Tsunade three years to figure out all he needed to kick it out of his system was the strongest dose of tea on earth, with a few more medicinal additions.

She had to talk with one of the tea sellers to come up with the blend and everything. Sasuke had to do his own checks on it in case someone poisoned it at the tea house of course, but so far it was a manageable set up.

Sasuke found it mildly amusing that Orochimaru's most ambitious experiment had been defeated by a mere cup of tea

"You realise that all it would take for an enemy ninja to kill you would be to break into your house in the morning while you're tea-hunting? Or just hide it?" she asked exasperatedly.

"I'm not getting married. They're all sycophantic little clan girls... No use to anyone. Where did you put my tea tin? And how did you get _into_ it?" he muttered, taking another sip of his dodgy tea.

"I kept the vial of blood you gave me when we were dating moron. And it's in the left-hand cupboard, behind your noodles and rice, where it _always_ is on a Monday. I tell you this every morning and... Look, since we're on the topic of keeping yourself alive, will you at _least_ get yourself a girlfriend? I'll worry about you otherwise." Anko sighed, her tone a worried one.

"I make no promises - wasn't there something we were supposed to be doing this morning?" he asked, the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something rather important appearing as he started to wake up.

Anko started at him, then her face paled.

"_Shit_! The Chunin Exam Submissions meeting!"

And with that she grabbed his arm, blanket and all and used a body flicker to transport the to the hallway outside the Hokage's office where a few of the other senior Jonin and Jonin Sensei were waiting.

Sakura was the first to hold her head in her hands at the sight of them; his brother on the other hand, having lived with his morning problems for several years just gave him a '_keep fighting_' sort of reassuring smile.

Sasuke had other things on his mind however, staring at the cup in his hand, he turned and glared at his best friend.

"You _spilled_ my tea" he said flatly.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stared at the three forms in his hands and he headed towards the team training grounds and sighed.<p>

While the Hokage had simply laughed at his attire - or lack of it - the topic of the meeting had been a very serious one; the upcoming Chunin exams in Kirigakure. Sasuke had submitted his team into them, but to say it was a wise political move would _not_ be wise.

The past two years, the Hokage had declined all invitations to Chunin exams being held in other villages, usually for good reason. The one from Iwagakure was just a formality for sake of a nearly non-existent peace treaty, so that wasn't unusual.

One had been issued by Sunagakure, and a few people had gone, but Konoha ninja weren't really suited for desert life. Most didn't learn real survival techniques for the deserts of wind country till they reached ANBU and Jonin.

Amazingly, Ä had extended his brother an invitation for his ninjas to take part in the ones hosted by Kumogakure (which hadn't been as damaged as much as previously thought, thanks to underground storm shelters the village already had).

_That_ invitation had been ripped up straight away. But this one...

It couldn't be ignored. There was an unnaturally large number of Genin due a promotion, and besides... _Kirigakure_ was hosting the Chunin exams. They hadn't hosted the Chunin exams since his own and that was more than twenty years ago (Sasuke forgot the exact dates)

Hopefully they wouldn't be as disastrous this time around; besides being in the middle of an all-out bloodline massacre (which was perfect for himself and his brother, really), it was during his Chunin exams that Orochimaru had marked him as his newest test subject.

How he managed to pass them, even he didn't know?

The political climate made this a wary expedition now too; very few of the higher ups got any information on Kirigakure. Hardly anyone knew what went on in the village.

Last Sasuke had heard of the village was that a year or so after his own promotion from Genin, the bloodline massacres ended, and the truth of that knowledge was dubious at best.

Every single village in existence was going to be there, along with the independent clans that hadn't attached themselves to the villages. Which was very bad news for two of his students.

Most people wouldn't expect the Akimichi family to have political enemies, but they had several in Sunagakure, and quite a few of the independent clans didn't like them either. Choji would have to watch his back there.

Then there was Naruko.

This would be her first real mission outside of Fire Country since her kidnapping three years ago, and there were bound to be Kumogakure ninja there. She hadn't encountered one since her unwanted sojourn in Kumo.

She still hadn't done much to master her Lightning chakra - he had no idea what would happen when she ran into one there.

Sasuke didn't delude himself into thinking they would just let her walk on by when her father had destroyed their village with a single technique, no matter what their Kage said (there were rumours he was on shaky feet anyway).

Chances were very high that she wouldn't be very popular with them; she would have to be very careful, because there would be Iwagakure Genin there too, and he didn't think they would be fond of her either.

That said, Iwagakure just hated Konoha and vice versa on mutual principle.

Finally reaching the training grounds, he caught sight of Choji and Lee practising; Lee was hurling blasts of wind towards his teammate, and wrapping the razor sharp chakra around his arms and legs during his physical attacks while Choji's responded with earthen armour and flying rocks.

Naruko was missing though - he could see her things. She was always up early, earlier even than him the past few months, and it was just past lunchtime. She must be still on her break.

"Your grip is slipping Choji - and you shouldn't be practising with your wind on your arms like that Lee. You already did that yesterday" he corrected, alerting the two boys to his presence.

Well, they weren't really boys any more; both of them had predictably shot up like weeds, filled out since they really were Genin. Choji was almost as tall as he was - they both dwarfed Naruko, much to her frustration.

Lee had gone through quite a big change in the last year or so; he'd abandoned his green jumpsuit for one thing. He now wore brown shorts, a black t-shirt, a sleeveless green zip-up high-collared vest over it, and his usual sandals and orange weight covers.

It had been well and good for him to admire his father so much - Sasuke admired Gai's work ethic himself, even if it was insane - but Rock Lee was not Might Gai, and trying to be his clone had been giving the boy an identity crisis twenty years too early. Lee had been reluctant to loose his chakra, and after all the effort it had taken to give him use of it again, it was a complete waste.

He'd snapped at Choji every day, and after calling Naruko a nosey bitch when she tried getting him to talk, reduced the poor girl to tears by bringing up the lightning thing when she was trying to make peace by giving him some of her wind scrolls without the usual two-bowls-of-ramen charge.

_'Maybe instead of helping me, you should try standing next to Sensei when he's using a lightning technique without looking for the nearest escape route_' had been his precise words.

When that happened, Sasuke had to do much more intervening than he had originally hoped for. He wanted his team to rely on each other to help them through things like this. The two boys had been amazingly patient with Naruko, not once complaining about a dropped mission that had been too close to Lightning Country for his comfort.

Thankfully, in spite of Lee's recent attitude problem, Choji and Naruko were just as good; they were both hiding behind some trees eavesdropping when he cornered or and quite bluntly said to the boy '_You and I need to have a nice long talk._ Now'.

Sasuke had talked with him, and after some blubbering about not living up to his fathers expectations, assured Lee that he didn't need to be a clone of his father to live up to his expectations.

After that, Lee had perked up, and started training himself for his second element, which he hadn't told anyone the identity of yet. He'd said that he didn't want anyone to see it until he'd learned ten techniques for it, and interests of saving Lee's pride, Sasuke had enforced it.

He'd also profusely apologised to his teammates; he let Choji yell at him for a whole hour, and let Naruko slap him one right across the face before she started crying again (Lee just _had_ to pick the time when female hormones were bothering her to have an attitude problem).

Then they had a nice team-bonding group hug they managed to drag him (unwillingly) into, and the whole thing had been forgotten.

Choji hadn't had any problems as of yet; his training had progressed well, and his bloodline had activated properly along with puberty, so his confidence was boosting by the day.

The only thing he seemed to complain about was his completely unrequited crush in Naruko, which he distracted himself from by flirting with every girl that walked past him. They had been on a date, but sensing how awkward Naruko had been, Choji had settled as a brother figure.

Sort of. Sasuke assumed the flirting was some method of keeping his pride intact. He had thought about telling him that flirting with other girls was what made Naruko so frosty with him on occasion, but thought better of it. Love was something they needed to learn the hard way.

"You're late Sensei - you said you'd be here after the Chunin meeting this morning" Choji greeted, jogging over.

"I got caught up with something - here your Chunin application form. Do it now, I want to hand them in this afternoon. The departure date is set for the end of the week" Sasuke replied evasively, handing Choji one of the forms as Lee joined them.

"We're really going then? Kirigakure are actually letting people in the village?" Lee asked as Sasuke handed him his own form.

"Apparently so, but for what purpose remains to be seen - is Naruko here? I want to go over some precautions with you. The departure date will be the end of the week. It's a fair good way to Kirigakure"

"She's sleeping I think, in the trees back there somewhere" Choji said, pointing to the trees on one side of the training field as he examined his form.

Sasuke followed the directions, glancing around on the ground for the blonde girl, before looking up into the branches; catch sigh of an orange fleck through the leaves, he kept up into the branches himself.

Naruko was sleeping on a set of branches she had pulled together with wire to form a hammock. Normally he would have simply yanked her up by the ankle to wake her up, or yelled, however, the Chunin forms had reminded him that his brats weren't kids any more, so he took a moment to observe his kunoichi.

Out of the three of them Naruko had changed the most. She'd been obsessed with bettering herself for a year or so now. All because her father had made contact with the remnants of the Uzumaki clan, and ideas about Uzushiogakure's reformation were being seriously discussed.

Well, that wasn't really much different from before. She was just a little bit closer to her goal now thanks to political aid.

Her biggest change was physically. No longer was she a little girl, _that_ was for certain. She still insisted on her hair being left loose, and though she had abandoned the orange ribbon, her hair was longer. Much longer.

In what appeared to be another mother-thing, she'd insisted on growing it out till it reached over her bottom. It was infuriating! It was impractical, and that wasn't the worst thing. She had curves, and while her boobs weren't overly large, her figure balanced it out.

She wasn't tall, she never had been. Though she had gained a few inches in height, it didn't really look like much compared to her teammates. She looked a little waif-like in their presence actually. She was at least a head shorter than himself, at least. Maybe a little shorter still.

It was good for her figure though, as much as Sasuke hated admitting that. Very good for it actually. Sasuke had the horrible fate of being sent an attractive Kunoichi, who was no stranger to it either (though for all her flirting, she still turned bright red at some comments).

It was a problem, because that damn Inuzuka boy went everywhere with her when she wasn't training. It was a godsend he didn't follow her around her, because Naruko didn't believe in sleeping in her clothes. All she had on was her mesh-leather and black leggings.

Shaking the dreary thoughts away, he stepped onto the tree hammock, picked up the black t-shirt and orange, sleeveless, wide collared zip-up short-suit she wore, and threw them at her. He really didn't know why she couldn't just sleep in the thing...

Naruko started awake, wide eyed, a kunai flickering into her hand, staring around wildly, before pulling on her shirt with a bright red flush in her face, presumably from being caught slacking off.

"I suggest you put that kunai away if you want to have this" Sasuke informed her, dangling her application form in front of her nose.

It took Naruko a few moments to jerk out of her sleepy daze, but when she did, her eyes widened, and she lunged so quickly that he didn't have time to dodge her, and they were both pelted from the tree hammock.

Swearing, Sasuke grabbed onto her before landing on his back rather sharply; at least one of them hadn't suffered though. How high had she been in those trees anyway? Gods, he felt dizzy. Maybe he shouldn't have done that...

Naruko shifted, batting his arms away, and in his dizziness, he was mildly disappointed. She was nice and warm. Very warm actually, but that was the Kyuubi and her fire chakra working together. It felt quite nice though...

"Sensei! Your head is bleeding!"

And with those panicked words from the girl, the good feelings disappeared, and he realised he had just taken a fifteen meter drop onto his back (the trees were quite tall - Konoha didn't get it's name from pokey little twigs after all). There was only one thing he could say to that.

"Ouch..." he groaned.

* * *

><p>"Now that we're all here then... Precautions for the Chunin exams - ouch, will you <em>stop<em> that?"

Naruko glared at her teacher; not only had she accidentally given him a bleeding gash on the back of his head and a load of purple bruises on his back, but he was too stubborn to let her fix them.

"No - I'm fixing your back and head. Just keep talking. I'm can multi-task you know..." she snipped back, focusing her healing chakra on a bruise between his shoulder blades.

That said, she didn't really have to heal them, they were superficial, but she didn't often get to see the man shirtless, and while Naruko was a very professional Kunoichi...

She was in love with the blind man! How could she not want to see him shirtless? He was quite a few years older than her but he was still in shape, and pretty good looking, and oh gods, _shoulders_...She really liked his shoulders.

Naruko had first developed a crush on the man when he walked into the academy, and while she had grown to appreciate his personality since then...

Oh gods, shoulders, shoulders, back, shoulders...

"Fine then, the Chunin exams. They're in Kirigakure, and you all know the current politician climate - chances are you lot are going to have a few problems. Kirigakure has supposedly stopped its bloodline wars, but that's what we were told when I took the Chunin exams, and my brother nearly had his head chopped off by one of the lunatics..."

"You took the Chunin exams in Kirigakure Sensei?" Lee asked

Sasuke sighed, shifted the ice pack on his head.

"If you want to call them exams, then yes. First thing you need to remember is that Kirigakure is the most unfriendly and bloodthirsty village there is. You haven't killed too many people, but if you want to get through the exams, I would _strongly_ recommend putting death above maiming and injuring..." he said warningly.

Choji balanced, but they all nodded. Naruko wasn't so surprised. Her dad had given her the talk on this already anyway. Sometimes it paid off to be the Hokage's daughter. She got good information like this first hand. She'd already been practising her kill-point aiming at home.

"Secondly, Kirigakure are also one of the more underhanded villages; by comparison, we're usually quite fair here in Konoha, but subterfuge will save your life. If one of them takes you hostage, don't be afraid to stab each other to kill the bastard. Naruko didn't spend half her time learning medical techniques not to use them. You don't have to go for a fatal wound, but if that situation comes up, don't be afraid to hurt each other to save each other..."

"We understand Sensei" Lee nodded for all of them as Naruko finished the bruise-healing, and after a check of Sasuke's head, mournfully let the man pull his shirt back on.

"Good, another thing to take note of is that you will completely out of your comfort zone as far as terrain goes. Research the land, the plants, and animals. If you don't, you _will_ die. Just about half of the flora and fauna is poisonous in one form or another, and practice walking on water for long periods of time, because I guarantee you'll be doing it a _lot_..."

Naruko already knew that too - most of her poisonous plants and the dart frogs in her tank at home were imports from Water Country. She did wonder how their poison-paranoid teacher had managed to survive there though...

"...now my last point is the water element that most Kirigakure ninja use..." Sasuke said, a much more serious tone in his voice that made Naruko's stomach churn at the thought of what was coming next.

"Water is the dominant element there, and frankly, you are all at a disadvantage in terms of elemental techniques" he said bluntly, confirming Naruko's fears.

"...Choji, neither of your elements stands up well against water. Until you learn to manipulate mud, you're very stuck, so while we're travelling, that's what I want you to practice. And keep increasing the temperature of your fire, as much as you can - that'll at least evaporate some of the water attacks, the same goes to you Naruko" Sasuke instructed, levelling his gaze at the two of them.

They both nodded, and he turned to Lee.

"You're a bit luckier in that wind and water are generally on an even level; if you practice, you can get an upper hand, but wind needs to be sharper than the water is fluid. How's your second element coming along?" he asked.

"Not bad. I have one good technique almost mastered Sensei. It'll be ready for the exams, I promise!" Lee replied cheerfully.

"Good, Naruko, the same goes for you with your wind element..." Sasuke nodded, turning his gaze onto her; Naruko's stomach dropped with it.

"...help Lee with his when you can, but I don't want it to be your main focus. I know you aren't really ready for it yet but-"

"You want me to start training with lightning..." Naruko finished.

Sasuke's face was grim but he nodded.

"I know you don't want to, but it's really the only element that will actually do any _damage_ to Kirigakure ninjas. They're too at home in water. Some of them even turn _into_ it. Now if I was allowed into the exams, it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not..." he said calmly, an endlessly patient and reassuring tone in his voice.

Naruko _knew_ he was making sense. She had felt it creeping up since her dad had told her about the Chunin exams they would be attending. She _knew_ it made sense but she already felt ill thinking about it.

Sasuke was right though. Unless Lee's new element was lightning, which she doubted, she was the only one on the team with that element. The only one of them with a slight advantage over the Kirigakure ninjas. And the Iwagakure ones for that matter.

"...The choice is yours Naruko - if you can't use it, I won't force you to, but if you can, then you _need_ to learn it. Starting this week. I know it's a strange concept for you to grasp, but lightning might just save your life when Kirigakure ninjas are involved."

Naruko knew that. _Everyone_ knew that. It was one of the five basic elemental laws. Water conducted Lightning. She would know - she'd experienced it first hand. Part of her reluctance was that she was starting to remember her time under the lightning treatment though.

Especially when she was sleeping. It woke her up a lot, hence why she was up early training, and took naps in the afternoon, or whenever she could. She wasn't getting overworked. Even when she woke up feeling sick, she forced herself back to sleep. She needed the energy, but it wasn't the best scenario.

Now this...

The logical thing to do would be to say yes. She had a whole bloodline riding on the mastery of it besides this Chunin exam thing. She really did need to get it over with but... She really, _really_ didn't want to yet.

"Can... Can I think about this for a while?" she asked.

She wanted to use her lightning chakra, if only for the sake of using her Hiraishin again. She _missed_ her Hiraishin. Nearly five years without it had been awful. And she didn't want to be crippled by it forever. Because that's what it was doing to her; crippling her potential, which she knew was damn high.

"Go ahead - Choji, Lee, I want to go over a few other techniques with you anyway. Take until tomorrow night to think it over" Sasuke nodded, gesturing to the two boys.

Choji squeezed her hand before he sat up and started following. Lee gave her a reassuring smile, and she sighed.

"Am I being a wimp Lee?" she asked, knowing the boy would be frank with her.

"No, I think you're being cautious. And in terms of this, it's probably a good idea to approach things cautiously" he said reassuringly, grinning at her before heading after Choji and Sasuke.

Naruko glanced after them once, then decided to practice her kunai aiming again. She still struggled with getting her kunai in the area of the heart. She was a few centimetres out, and target practice helped her to think.

* * *

><p>Naruko hurled her kunai straight into the heart of her clone, before stomping to one end of the training field, trying to sort out her mind and its ideas about training her lightning chakra, as she had been for the past day.<p>

She knew it was important, and she knew that once she got past this block, she would be able to do it. But it was convincing herself of that that was the stumbling block. The memory of what lightning had felt like running over her skin...

It made her feel awful. How was she supposed to train her own element when it terrified her so much? She still couldn't get through a _storm_ by herself sometimes. Thankfully they were few and far between, so her dad (or in rare cases Ino) didn't get his sleep interrupted all that much, but she couldn't stand them.

Flopping onto her back, she stared up at the sunset streaked sky hoping it would calm her panicked thoughts; thinking so negatively wasn't like her, and it certainly wasn't helping. It was just her instinct to react to lightning like that though.

Naruko didn't know when she fell asleep, or when Sasuke sat down beside her, but when she woke up Lee and Choji were gone, and her teacher had a frown on his face. Realising that she had been asleep, she quickly found the reason for the frown without his question.

"You're having nightmares again?" he asked as she sat up, getting her bearings back.

"Not so much _again_ as more frequently; I'm remembering things too. I told Anko last week though" she replied awkwardly.

She didn't really like talking about it much. Anko was alright, since she was her therapist. Therapist... That word still felt weird.

It had taken some convincing to get her to realise that having one wasn't uncommon for ninja. It hadn't been till Sakura-sensei told her she and her two teammates (now future husband and brother-in-law still made a visit to one every few months, and her dad had admitted he'd only stopped seeing his after he'd married her mother.

Apparently having a therapist was an unspoken right of passage amongst the ninja community of Konoha, if a very twisted one, so Naruko tried to be proud of it.

"You'll get used to them in a few years; they won't get any better, but they won't bother you so much, and you'll sleep better. Get one of the tea houses to mix up a blend for you. That helps with the sleep problems" Sasuke advised, handing over her bow and the chakra-metal fūma shuriken he'd bought her for her last birthday.

He spoke with the tone of experience, and Naruko glanced at him curiously.

"You have nightmares too Sensei?" she asked.

Truth be told, she and her teammates didn't know much about Sasuke's years before he became their teacher. They knew he'd been in the ANBU, and that he'd been mixed up with Orochimaru somewhere, and recently that his Chunin exams had been in Kirigakure.

"Not so often now, but every few weeks or so I get woken up. I used to train earlier too, but I gave up and used the time to relax. That helped more than you'd think" he shrugged as she sealed away her bow into her quiver, along with the rest of her things.

"What are they... I mean, why do _you_ get them?" she asked a little tentatively; it _was_ a personal question to be asking, and gods above she knew Sasuke didn't look at her like she looked at him.

He glanced at her as they started walking out of the training ground, pondering whether to answer or not before he actually answered.

"Orochimaru. I was one of his experiments when I was about twelve... He put one of his curse seals on me, though thankfully I have a modicum of control over it. I used it a few times when I was in the ANBU. But for a few years I had very regular nightmares..."

He broke off, oblivious to the shock on his student's face; Naruko had known he was involved with Orochimaru, but she'd never thought Sasuke was one of his surviving test subjects! That was as bad as what happened to her.

His odd, sexual friendship with Anko also made a _lot_ more sense now.

"But I was... in Kumo! How'd did you... I mean... Wasn't that like...?"

She faltered, unsure of how to ask her question without calling him afraid of something. Not only was it a little insulting, it was odd to think her teacher had been afraid of anything then.

She didn't remember much of when he actually rescued her, but she did know he had just looked really pissed off...

"It did have some similarities, but not so many that it got in my way" he shrugged.

"Okay, but how... How do you ignore them?" she asked, feeling defeated by the very idea of doing so herself.

"I ignore them now, but I learned how to shut myself off from things in the ANBU. Before that, I simply found something more important to think about. Be that my brother, Sakura... Or one of you brats" he replied, his tone consciously bland.

Naruko didn't know if she should smile or cry in frustration at the reluctant admission of affection.

* * *

><p><strong><em>A long chapter. I tried shortening it but... Gargh. It refused to co-operate. I had to split it in half. Some SasukeAnko friendship, and team bonding, as well as some tads of SasuNaruko._**

**_Expect some more of that and a little more training next chapter, before we move on to the Chunin exams themselves :) bear with me for these chapters - I haven't quite got the same idea of where they end as I did with the Kumo arc, so the updates might be a little sporadic for a while._**

**_Everything after the Chunin exams is just begging to be written of course *bonks head on keyboard* why it the name of buggery I couldn't think of the damn chapters in the order they come on is beyond me, but that's how it is apparently._**

**_Chapter Quote is from '__Painting Flowers__' by All Time Low._**

**_Hope you enjoyed the chapter :)_**


	21. Chunin: Part II

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty-One - -<br>****Chunin ~ Part II**

* * *

><p><em>'You are exactly what I'm waiting for - waiting has only made me love you more.<br>Tell me what youre going to do; I'm crazy into you.'_

* * *

><p>As Naruko walked along the streets of Konoha with her teacher, she felt familiar frustration building as she thought about the affection he'd put behind his words.<p>

While she was glad that he found her important enough to ignore his own fears - even if he did have a better handle on his than she did her own - it wasn't the way she really wanted him to.

She had _tried_ being subtle about it. She really had. She had even laid off the flirting for a while. Mostly when she was about fourteen - she'd realised that she had no chance till she was legal around then, and why waste the energy?

She had even dated _Choji_ once (even though it had been horribly awkward, and felt like dating a brother), just to really take a step back, but now... now it wasn't completely illegal, but he didn't even notice her.

Comments like the ones he had just given her were what she liked about him so much. All the problems she'd had, he'd been able to explain them in a manner that actually helped, and... And she knew it was just him doing his job, but...

But he just didn't _see_ it at all, the double edges his words had sometimes. She had been patient for nearly five years, since the second she'd laid eyes on him, and he thought it was just a private joke between them or something.

He didn't see all the little bits of flirting, all the effort she put into getting a compliment on her training... Those were hard to get too! He didn't compliment much, but since he'd always put her ahead of her teammates in general, she hardly ever got them.

He didn't see any of it, and it was getting harder and harder to live with. It wasn't like she was undesirable either!

She was a good ninja, with two bloodlines to boot, the Hokage's daughter, and not to boost her own ego, but she had a pretty face too. If she _wanted_ a general boyfriend, she wouldn't have much trouble finding one.

Trouble was she was nothing more than a student, and she had no idea how to take herself out from that labelling in Sasuke's mind.

She had to do something though, because she wouldn't be able to stand anyone else now. She trusted him too much to care about anyone else the same way a second time around. After the Chunin exams though.

Which brought her back to the lightning issue...

"...so, my lightning chakra... It might save our lives in Kirigakure?" she asked warily.

Naruko really, _really_ didn't think she was ready to be tackling her lightning chakra, but if Sasuke had gotten over his fears when they were as bad as her own...

Wasn't she just being a wimp? Before Kumo, she would have been hopping with excitement, even if she would have preferred the water element. Lightning was a good element to have, since it was so versatile.

The only element it really got blocked by was wind. It trounced earth, and the other two were about equal. Tactically, it was a very good element to have. She would have been over the moon to have it before.

Even better, Sasuke was a lightning user himself - he would be able to teach her personally like he did with her fire element... The thought of shoulders and collar bone and the sexy, _sexy_, sweaty-just-finished-training look was so _very_ appealing...

Ready for it or not, she'd try, if only to stop being such a wimp. She'd just have to force herself through it if need be. Sasuke had done it, so she could too. She wasn't weak. She refused to be weak.

"Naruko, if you're not ready for it, then don't force yourself. That would be the worst thing you could do" he warned.

"I can do it. It won't be... I won't get it as fast as I did wind or fire, but I can do it, especially if I use my clones. I can do it. If it helps us out, I can do it" she lied.

She must have gotten better at it, or or Sasuke didn't really know her as well as she thought, because he didn't notice it at all.

"Then we start tomorrow - if you wake up, do some background reading on it. Your father should have the scrolls for it somewhere" Sasuke replied calmly, stopping at the end of the street.

Grunting in acknowledgement, Naruko reached up and hugged him, two goals in mind; the first simply being she liked hugs, and liked them from Sasuke even more. The second being she was going to make the blind idiot of a man realise she was not a child, and was in fact dateable material.

Or at least kissing worthy. That _alone_ would be an accomplishment.

It wasn't as if she didn't know how to use basic seduction training; a few times she'd had to flirt with people for Choji and Lee to get past unnoticed on a mission. She even kissed a guy one (which her teammates and teacher all scolded her for once the mission was over and they had succeeded).

A little wouldn't hurt as long as it was really, really basic. Sasuke was a man - men were incredibly susceptible to it. That was why it _existed_. All she needed to do was give him a nudge in the right direction, and his own head would do the rest.

Well, that was the theory anyway. She got the feeling it would take quite a few nudges on her part to get Sasuke to realise she wanted an upgrade from the 'Student' relationship.

Wrapping her arms round his neck, she leaned in a tad closer than normal, eternally grateful to whatever past generation gene had seen fit to give her actual boobs to use. Naruko loved her mother, but inheriting her boob size had been one of her main fears in the past few years.

She felt Sasuke roll his eyes before putting an arm around her shoulders; pressing just a tiny little closer, she felt a little twitch run across his shoulders. Smirking to herself for a moment, she plastered an oblivious expression on her face, then looked up at his suspicious face.

"What?" she asked, still clinging onto him.

"What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm hugging you; it's how people show affection. Why?" she replied.

"Nothing... Just... You aren't still going to that seduction practice at the hospital by any chance are you? " he asked, a little wary.

Naruko snorted, and hugged him again, normally this time.

"Please, I'd never practice on you, and besides, I don't need to _practice_ anymore sensei..." she said, pulling back.

His eye twitched for a breif second, then he shook it off.

"...As soon as I've been chunin for a few months, I'm applying to the ANBU-yu with Ino when Choji makes his application to the ANBU. We heard if you apply at the same time, you can be put on the same unit - is that true?"

Sasuke started at her, before he relaxed and nodded.

"Essentially. If you already work well together, then the ANBU Captain doesn't need to worry about team formations. It's the best scenario for him, since you're less likely to kill each other" he replied.

Naruko wasn't sure if he was exaggerating about that or not, but grinned all the same as he started heading onward down the street.

"See you tomorrow Sensei!" she called, waving after him.

"I'll see you tomorrow Naruko" he said, sounding as if he was rolling his eyes again.

Naruko watched him turned around the street corner, then started heading towards the gate of her own home. As soon as the Chunin exams were over, she start tackling this blindness problem he seemed to be having with her.

Choji had noticed, Lee had noticed, and Ino had known for years, and Naruko was sick of being akin to some love-struck puppy.

But first she had to get thought training, and she was far less confident about that.

* * *

><p>Sasuke shook his head as he walked away from his blonde student, clearing the fog from it.<p>

For a second there, his thoughts had _wandered_. He couldn't believe he thought she been... Geh, this was one of the reasons he wished she'd never grown up. Gods forbid, he'd never seen her like that - that was several kinds of wrong - but...

When she inadvertently snuck up on him like that, he wouldn't deny that he noticed that she'd grown up. He didn't like that comment about practice though.

There were too many ways to interpret it for his comfort. Just what exactly did she mean by that anyway? That she wouldn't practice on him? Was that an insult or not? And what in the gods name did she mean she didn't _need_ to practice?

More to the point, why did it bother _him_ so much? He wasn't her father! Let him worry about her... growing up urges. Sasuke wanted nothing to do with them. He'd had a hard enough time with his _own_, never mind those of his student...

Oh dear god, if she and Choji were going at it her father would hang him! Wait, no, she unwittingly turned him down during that date last year... Feeling air returning, Sasuke relaxed, and continued to ponder her word choice.

He really was curious as to if she'd been trying to insult him now. Then again she could simply have been pulling his leg. She did follow him around like a puppy when she was a Genin (in the rook sense of the word). If it hadn't been so uncomfortable, he might have called it cute.

Sighting his apartment, he decided that was most likely the case, and cast the thoughts from his mind.

He wanted to be up early, just in case Naruko ended up being so, and he couldn't get his internal body clock to set itself with strange thoughts in his head.

* * *

><p>Naruko bolted awake, sweating and breathing heavily, sacking the feeling of being burned from the inside out through her skin and flickering blue-ish white light from her mind.<p>

She was _fine_. She was _home_. She was alright. It was just a dream. She repeated those words to herself several times, before her panicked breathing finally calmed down, and she flopped back onto her pillows.

She was getting kind of sick of waking up before dawn. Why had they started now anyway? Or rather, why had she started remembering them now?

After taking several minuets to convince herself that getting up was a good idea, she jumped into a quick shower, pulled on her clothes, picked up her quiver and bow, and after grabbing one of the rice balls from the fridge, headed out of the house t the training grounds.

For the past week, Sasuke had been meeting her early, quizzing her on the background theory behind lightning manipulation, as well as showing her some of his own techniques to quicken her understanding, as well as get her used to the presence of lightning techniques.

Oddly, seeing him use them didn't scare her as much as she thought, but then again, she had a bias with everything related to Sasuke.

That wasn't to say she hadn't backed away several steps when he first showed her a technique called Chidori (one he'd apparently learned from Kakashi during his ANBU service). She just didn't think the lightning was going to immediately attack her in his hands.

Yesterday had been the end of the theory practice, and he'd started her on the actual creation of lightning chakra. She'd had god knows how many clones rubbing their hands together until her chakra started to tingle above her skin.

She'd had to stop at that point, but today was the first day she'd be using it. She'd be concentrating an actual amount of chakra around her fingers till it flicker and spat changed bluish white churning light...

Maybe it was a _good_ thing she was a little drowsy. She wouldn't quite absorb all of it. Reaching the training grounds, she did a few quick warmups and stretches, before sitting down and trying me meditating.

Sasuke said it helped, and so did Anko, but Naruko hadn't found much use for it. She was willing to try anything to make today's morning practice session g better. Lee had been giving her meditation tips too - he meditated every day.

She didn't manage to clear her mind. Kind of. In the end she just settled for listening to the nightingales and the other birds in the trees as the sun started to break over the treetops and the homage mountain. That was fairly soothing.

She had a few new ideas for a poison she was developing for her kunai and arrows if nothing else (she had been missing out the powdered foxglove) when Sasuke arrived perhaps an hour after herself, looking rather groggy, a flask of something in his hand.

He brought that every morning, and drank the whole litre of the tea it contained. Naruko wasn't really certain if it was just a personality quirk or something else, but she knew that he wouldn't be much help with anything until it was drunk.

It gave her time to convince herself this was a good idea though, so she let him guzzle the stuff all he wanted.

"Alright; let's go through the theory one more time. How do you create lightning based chakra?" Sasuke asked pouring out the last mug of tea that the travel flask cup would hold.

"By rapidly rubbing physical and mental energies against each other to generate high frequencies in the chakra thus created b the user" Naruko parroted back.

He continued with a few more questions, such as how well it interacted with other elements, what made it weak, what it overpowered, and one last one.

"Which bloodlines is it associated with?"

"In Konoha it tends to run in the Hyūga family, outside a general tendency however, it's part of the Storm Release bloodline of Kumogakure, the Scortch Release of Sunagakure" she replied.

"And, time permitting, Konha's Hiraishin bloodline" Sasuke added; he didn't smirk from sleepiness, but she could hear it in his tone.

Naruko repeated his words, feeling a tad braver at the thought of using her Hiraishin again. True she'd have to master lighting first, then figure out how to combine it with her wind element, but that was just a minor detail. If it was her bloodline, she'd get it eventually.

Getting to her feet when he did, Naruko followed him out not the training field and after stopping in front of him, slowly began to concentrate on her chakra, the two parts that made it. She knew how they were combined, but she'd never done it outside of rubbing her hands together before...

"I'm going to teach you the Chidori because it's fairly simple one you grasp the basic formation of the chakra. I don't want you using it until you can use the Hirashin again though. You can learn some others from scrolls on the way to Kirigakure once you've mastered this one" Sasuke stated bluntly.

"You're teaching me a technique I can't _use?_" Naruko asked, failing to see the logic in his words.

"There are blind spots in it that you won't be able to see. The only reason Kakashi and I can see them is because of the Sharingan. That won't be a problem once you're using the Hiraishin again, but unless you're absolutely certain that you won't be hit in the process of using it, you do _not_ use it. Understood?" he replied, a very firm tone n his voice.

Another plus from this training, she got to monopolise a bit of is time, and see his grumpy-just-woken-up demeanour, which was somewhat adorable. Then she got this - the training voice, and gods of fire, it made her mind _churn_ with _thoughts_.

She definitely wouldn't mind being ordered around if he used _that_ voice. Now if she could just see some of his shoulders...

"Understood. No using Chidori. Yet" she replied.

"Alright, first you need to build up a layer of electrified chakra around your hand - you don't charge it he though. I want you to practice maintaining your speed with the chakra on your hand first" he instructed, holding out his own hand, letting her sense for the chakra that he had built up on it.

Naruko hadn't seen him use the technique himself more than a few times before, or ever seen Kakashi using it, so she was a bit surprised by just how much chakra she could sense, and she probably wasn't sensing all of it (chakra sensing was only topped by illusions on her '_unskilled at'_ list).

Relieved she wouldn't have to charge the chakra just yet, she started building up her chakra, creating the vibrations in almost instinctively (thanks to all the training with her clones through the week).

Several times Sasuke had to tell her to add more chakra, till it was easily double that of a basic rasengan, before he deemed the amount satisfactory though.

Finally at the level of chakra she needed it to be, Naruko felt a little uneasy at the feel of the humming chakra surrounded. It was so thick that she could actually _feel_ the vibrations as it waited for the full effect that came with merging the two energies together, the charge.

She got through that though, since it wasn't _actual_ lightning, but running with it... God that was horrible. She kept loosing control of it, and it kept fizzling out, something that would have been very bad if she'd actually charged the chakra up.

Sasuke made her run back and forth with it until the formation of it around her hand was solid, and she could pull it around her hand without feeling intimidated by it. After investing a few clones into the practice (only a few because it was taking a stupidly large amount of chakra), that only took four or five hours.

By the time Choji and Lee arrived, she had just one last thing to do, and Sasuke was not so black hearted to throw her into charging the chakra, taking the last step, without giving her a break to get used to the idea. Or prepare herself for it by finding some decent motivation.

She was _creating_ _her own fear._ That was going to take some _serious_ damn motivation.

She sat down watching Lee and Sensei go through some katas and wind techniques, flopping her head onto Choji's shoulder as he waited for his turn after lee; he was carving some conduction seals into the elemental metal of his new hammer (a team present for his seventeenth birthday), to help him when he used it alongside his earth and fire techniques, or those of herself and Lee.

She was kind of glad that they'd been on that awkward date with him; Choji was a sweet boy, he was so nice it was unbelievable that he could go so berserk in a fight, but it had been painfully clear that he was too sweet for her.

She would have torn him to shreds if they dated seriously. He seemed to have noticed too, because from what she heard from Ino, he was getting along _really_ well with Tenten lately. He still called her Naruko-chan, but they were just teammates.

When Lee was done, he took the boys' place, and while Lee went to practice his secret second element, Naruko had some time to catch up on her sleep. She was exhausted, and she desperately needed to sleep, nightmares or not.

Oddly, it was actual sleep. She didn't wake up from any bad dreams, and she must have slept for at least three hours straight.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Back, and next chapter will begin the Chunin exams! I've been listening to the Almost Alice soundtrack, so hopefully it should be interesting (I'm hoping the surrealistic influences of Alice in Wonderland and Tim Burton are going to improve my bad fight scenes).<em>**

**_Still working some of it out (the drawback of not sticking with canon is that coming up with equally entertaining ideas is just uughh...) but I have the bones of it. Just working on the muscles. Expect some of Sasuke's demons to show up, and Hinata will come into play too._**

**_But that's next chapter and on - Sasuke needed something to jolt his mind, and I felt Naruko getting sick of him ignoring her was a perfect start to it. Well kinda. At least he realises she isn't a kid anymore. It's some progress..._**

**_Chapter Quote is from '_Extreme_' by Valora._**

**_Hope you liked the chapter; I quite liked writing this one :) ;D_**


	22. Chunin: Part III

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ & ナルコ**

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty-Two - -<br>****Chunin ~ Part III**

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><p><em>'Imagine a place you can always escap to, an island off the coast of nowhere;<br>a new destination of your own creation, just waitng untill you choose to go there.'_

* * *

><p>Waking from her sleep at Choji's gentle shake on her shoulder, Naruko felt better than she had in months.<p>

Getting to her feet, she took Choji's place in the training field again, ignoring the tightly knotting nerves that were building all the way through her. This was it. She was going to make lightning. One of the few things she had absolutely feared in her life, and she was going to make it herself.

Sasuke had asked Choji for a bit of help, and the stout boy had created several large rocks in the training field for her to aim at. Naruko was kind of amazed they weren't the usual tightly-packed dirt. She forgot sometimes how good Choji was with his elements.

Sasuke took her through the steps again, but stepped back once she had the chakra gathered around her hand and arm.

Naruko had decided that the best way to handle this was just to dive straight into the actual charging of her chakra, and after several deep breaths, that was exactly what she did. She mixed the buzzing physical and mental energies together, and the sound of birds screeched in blueish white light around the training ground, gaining the immediate attention of her teammates.

She didn't move immediately. She hesitated for a second, taking in the feeling of the lightning on her arm with surprise. And she _was_ surprised. She had been expecting that burning pain again, the one that felt like it was being scored into her very blood less but...

Roaring light. That was all it was. It wasn't doing anything she didn't want it to. It fizzled and crackled and chirped brightly on her arm, but it didn't...

Feeling much more sure of herself, of what had been troubling her for so long, she charged straight at the rock, gathering as much speed as she could, before ploughing her fingers - elongated straight just as Sasuke had shown her - straight through one of Choji's large, solid stone mounds.

The was a tense silence as she jerked her hand back out, staring at it, the few tiny tendrils of smoke that came from using the lightning, and the dust of the vaporised rock, that stuck to her fingers. She laughed a little, which seemed to make her teammates jump a little.

Then her guts _churned_, and she bolted for the trees to empty the contents of her stomach. Hurried footsteps followed her, and as she took some very deep breaths, Sasuke followed through the branches with a bottle of water.

Gratefully she took some of it, swilled it around her mouth and spat it back out before taking a drink. A long one. She felt dry from nerves and fear and... And pure _idiocy_.

"I... I could control it..." she said disbelievingly.

Sasuke said nothing, instead letting her express herself as she needed to.

"...I didn't think I'd be able to control it. I thought it would just... I could _control_ it! I didn't think... It didn't burn or _anything_, it was just ticklish and..."

And then she had to stop because she needed to be sick again. She felt so stupid...

"It's not stupid to be scared of something Naruko. A good sense of fear will keep you alive sometimes, better than any technique will" Sasuke said reassuringly; Naruko shook her wad stubbornly.

"But it was so _easy_! It didn't even bother me when I realised I could control it...! That's-"

"Not all that surprising. From what I've read in your file, you were named after lightning - once you've worked around the rough edges of it, you have every capability of making it your personal watchdog" Sasuke cut in pointedly.

"Roaring Light..." she mumbled, a grin starting to curl at the corner of her mouth as she found the irony.

She'd asked her father where he and her mother got the the idea for her name from; he'd said she'd been named after a character in Jiraiya's only non-smut book and after a visit to the ruins of Uzushiogakure for the anniversary of its destruction, the legendary storms of Uzushiogakure_._

_'It was your mother's idea mostly; she was adamant that any daughter of hers was going to take the world by storm, and should be named appropriately'_ he'd said, grinning as he always did at the thought of her mother.

Naruko had always wanted to live up to whatever expectations her mother might have had of her. She had never paid much attention to this before, and she was no where near a master of lightning yet, but...

But if she could control it, not be controlled by it, but be the controller...

"I think... I think I quite like the idea of that..." she murmured, a grin curling back onto her face, one her teacher noted he hadn't seen for years.

* * *

><p>The day after his daughter's first use of her lightning chakra, Konoha's Genin left the village and headed east across Fire Country for three days before arriving at Tanzaku, the wave country port town where they would meet the boat that would take them to Kirigakure.<p>

It was at the docks that Minato could be found staring out at the sea, his feet dangling over the edge in a very Un-Hokage-like manner.

Minato did not often get to see the coast, his namesake, which he felt rather ashamed of. He had enjoyed growing up on the coast before moving to Konoha. In his hand was a letter from his brother regaling some very bad news no matter how it turned out.

Sighing, he turned his eyes back to the unofficial scrap of parchment that had been sent by a messenger eagle that morning.

_Minato,_

_If this finds you in a good mood, then I apologise for being the one to sour it. If to are already having a bad day, then I'm apologise for making it worse? I know that you have no wish to speak to me more than necessary, and I have no wish to do any more damage than me and mine have already done, but I have no choice._

_I'm sure you've heard the rumours of uprisings springing up in Kumogakure, and I'm afraid to say they haven't been far from the truth. Since the circumstances of our last meeting, my chain of authority has been disintegrating by the day._

_At current, there are three people that I know to be trustworthy, but I'm facing a coup d'état on the scale of the Uchiha revolt you nearly had some years ago. _

_Almost my entire force has trained their Genin into a first strike of war movement against Konoha during the Chunin exams in Kirigakure, presumably after the council's vote of no confidence in me has been cleared and my successor selected._

_Outside backing is involved in this, and I think the prime suspects are Iwagakure and Kirigakure; I urge you to better ally yourself with Sunagakure during the Gokage meeting taking place during the exams, or Takigakure or Yukigakure._

_I can not give you any more details; I would fear this is already too much if I didn't know that this encryption only has one breaker. Give my regards to my niece, and tell her to keep up her guard during the exams. _

_She will be their main target, as I'm sure you've already realised._

_Ä._

Rubbing his brow with one hand, Minato charged some lightning chakra over the letter, the heated static catching it to flames and burning the message. Clenching the ashes tightly in his fist till they dissolved, and ignoring the blistering of his skin, he tried to find a place in his mind for this new worry.

Ä was many things, but a liar was not one of them, and Minato's own Kumogakure spies had reported some unrest and divided loyalties towards the Raikage, but this... This was a warning for a war he was neither prepared for, nor wanted to take part in.

Peace had been good for Konoha. It wasn't that he didn't have the manpower for a war; it was certainly there, even if the majority of his forces were Genin that should have been promoted two years previously, but Konoha did not need a war.

He did not want a war, if only to keep Naruko away from something so grotesque... But even if he could make the right allies, founder some damage control... He couldn't do anything to stop the revolt of another village.

Nor could he stop a war that he had brought upon himself; not without a great deal of luck and forward planning at any rate. Letting the ashes in his hand fall into the waves beneath his feet, Minato pulled himself back onto the dock, and turned back towards the inn.

First things first, he needed to get to Kirigakure. Then he would speak with Ä. If there was a way to circumvent disaster, then it would be better found sooner rather than later.

* * *

><p>"So? Do you have any theories?"<p>

Naruko jerked back from her meandering thoughts as she heard Ino's question.  
>They had been on the boat to Kirigakure for several days. The boat had left from wave country - the mainland of the former Uzushiogakure - and was now halfway Kirigakure<p>

The theories Ino mentioned were theories on what would be awaiting them inside the village.

No one had been inside it for over twenty years (not even spies couldn't get in!), so it was unsurprising that Genin imaginations had been running rampant for most of the journey. Naruko had a few grizzly true-to-life stories form her dad, but none of the wacky rumours some the other Genin had been coming up with.

"I heard one of my father's delivery guys for the shop say the bugs are nasty; he said he was in hospital for weeks from one bite" Ino said, throwing the unwanted remains of her riceball out into the waves, where it was quickly snapped up by a seagull.

"Ino, _all_ bugs are nasty - they're _plant eaters_. Ergo, they are evil and nasty" Naruko snorted, taking a bite of the matcha roll.

Lee and Choji had bought a good sized box for her from a celebrated tea-house in Tanzaku, the port they had sailed from. She had objected despite her love of wagashi, but the attempts of her teammates to soften her up at certain times of the month was too sweet. Plus, she'd never, _ever_ turn down wagashi. Ever.

"You two swapping theories too? I thought you were above them" Kiba asked, sitting down beside them at the rail with several packets of melon bread (Kiba's sweet tooth rivaled her own, but wasn't nearly as picky).

Naruko looked up from her roll as he sat down beside them, dangling his legs through one of the holes in the wooden barrier where the deck water escaped during bad weather.

"Some of them are actually pretty funny. I heard one girl swear that they all eat their own pinky finger when they reach Jonin" Naruko shrugged, rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah, because visiting a village of bloodline-hating freaks is completely funny! In case you didn't remember, practically all of us have bloodlines, and you know what happens to people with bloodlines in Kirigakure!" Ino snipped with clear panic, drawing a finger across her throat.

Naruko handed her a few bites of hanakuzura, and she chomped on them immediately before glaring pitifully.

"And stop giving me food when I'm stressed! You know I eat like crazy!" she mumbled, before stuffing another into her mouth.

"I agree that we should be carefull, but Kirigakure doesn't have the manpower to be waging a bloodline war anymore. They've had practically no new graduates for years. I think we're safer from an all-out-massacre than we are the cannibalism rumours, which if the storis about the northern peninsulas are anything to go by, are distutruly true" Kiba shrugged.

"Have you heard anything?" Naruko asked him, picking a yōkan from the box beside her.

"I did hear a couple. Aside from the cannibalism. One was that they're nearly immune to poison because of the diet here. Also that they mix sake with grape juice. How disgusting is that?" Kiba replied around a mouthful of bread.

"That's it? _That's_ your amazing rumour? Poisonous drunks?" Ino asked disbelievingly.

"Well if it offends you so much why don't you come up with something?" Kiba snorted, baiting the blonde girl deliberately.

"I heard they have a _nasty_ T&I programme. Like, really, _really_ nasty. They dehydrate you so you're practically a prune to get you talking, or they make you think you're drowning, and there's this thing called death of a thousand cuts where they peel off your skin and-"

"I'd like to keep my lunch thanks. You do realise being so bloodthirsty is unnatural right?" Kiba asked the blonde girl warily; Ino punted and crossed her arms huffily.

"I'm not bloodthirsty. I just think T&I is fascinating and under appreciated. Not that it's pleasant, just under appreciated" she replied, shooting a wary look at Naruko that her friend shook of with a nonchalant shrug.

She didn't have a problem with T&I after all. Ino was right about it being under appreciated. It was as bad as sealing in that regard actually. No one wanted to study it (though not because they couldn't be bothered with the book work involved in sealing).

"What about you Naruko? You know any good rumours?" Kiba asked, moving onto a curry bread.

"Not so much rumours, but my dad did tell me a gory story about Kirigakure's old graduation exam" she replied, squinting at a large expanse of rock in the distance.

It looked like an island, but she knew there were still three days away from the Water Country archipelago... She should have looked over the map of the route again last night, but she hadn't been feeling great after practicing the technique she was developing down in the boat's practice room.

She had decided she would have an easier time still with her lightning chakra if she made most of her techniques herself,nor learned them directly form her dad and Sasuke. She had managed to figure out the handseals she needed. It was just a case of the chakra manipulation now.

Having so many clones and a few free days in Wave had provided ample time to get the majority of the control she needed over the element, and catch up for the lost time. Realisation that she'd actually be able to control the lightning had been a major confidence boost.

She had tried using her Hiraishin again, and while she'd come to the conclusion that she didn't need to put seals down anymore, there was still something off with her aiming, so she couldn't use it yet.

Precision was everything in a fight, so the chance she might accidentally project herself into the path of an oncoming kunai was less than ideal.

She had a few techniques down though, a couple of generic ones that her dad had taught her, and a couple of derivative Chidori techniques Sasuke had made up himself, ones that she would actually be able to use.

But that wasn't her concern at the moment; gossiping over wagashi however, was.

"There's this guy there called Zabuza, and when he was an academy student, the Genin exam was to split them in half and fight them to the death. This Zabuza guy though, he massacred an entire graduating cases and three of the teachers when they started intervening. _That's_ why there have been hardly any new graduates. They changed the graduation exam to get new recruits a few years ago" Naruko exported in a hushed whisper.

Ino went so pale Naruko had to hand her three of the Daifuku to get the colour back into her face. Kiba looked a bit off-colour himself, and quickly changed the topic.

"So, did you know that Choji was making out the whole of dinner with Tenten last night?" he asked.

"That _bitch!_ I asked her if she was with Choji and she _lied!_ She said she'd been polishing her weapons when she got back to our cabin!" Ino fumed.

"Nah, she was in Choji's hammock. We had to throw her out before Sasuke-sensei woke up and like... _castrated_ him or something. He's fucking _scary_ when he's mad" Kiba complained around yet another mouthful of bred.

"Sasuke is _not_ scary! he's just..."

Naruko faltered, trying to find words that would describe the sarcastically humorous personality of her teacher without sounding rude.

"An asshole?" Ino suggested.

"I was going to say socially awkward, but yeah. Pretty much..." Naruko sighed in defeat.

"I really don't know what you like about him" Ino muttered.

"Wait, she still likes him?" Kiba asked, sounding a little exasperated.

"What made you think otherwise?" Ino asked with a roll of her eyes

"But he's like, _forty!_ And he's a jerk! I asked him for directions to the ANBU submissions and information section and he said if I had to ask then I should shouldn't bother applying!" Kiba objected.

"He's thirty-three actually, and he's right; if you have to ask where ANBU headquarters are when you've lived in Konoha for nearly seventeen years then you really should think about a different career path" Naruko muttered waspishly.

She was too busy staring at that island to soothe Kiba's idiot boy ego. It was closer now, they were actually heading towards it. She could see what looked like buildings on it, and a huge swirling mass surrounding the island shores...

"Kiba has a point; that's a fifteen year age difference. He's not that much younger than your dad is he? It's not like he thinks you're date-material either. More like a trip to the noose... Isn't it illegal to date your sensei in Konoha?"

"Pretty much. Don't think it's actually a law though. At least, not one that he'd get killed for... Then again, Hokage-sama would probably kill him anyway" Kiba shrugged

Uzushiogakure...! It was uzushiogakure! Dropping her box of sweets onto the deck, Naruko hurried back down to the sleeping cabins below deck, quickly heading for the boys' cabins and knocking on the door of the room given to her father singularly.

His face when he opened the door for her was all the confirmation she needed really, but he answered her question when she asked why they were heading for that island.

"We're stopping for some supplies and to pick up some people, but you and I... I though it would be a good idea to pay our respects to your mother while we've stopped for the night" he said simply, if a little sadly.

Naruko stared at her for a moment, then gave him a rare hug, which he gave a just as rare return to.

* * *

><p>The visit to the ruins of Uzushiogakure had been both traumatic (in terms of navigating the whirlpools and riptides that surrounded the island village) and somewhat surreal.<p>

The buildings were crumbling whitewashed stone, with dots of blue here and there, and some trekking to the moderately intact shrine and grave site of the Uzumaki clan compound revealed the island's structure.

It wasn't so much an island as a cluster of islands and rocky stacks, arches, and spires connected by rope bridges and rocky pathways. Most of the village was underground, built into the cliffs to protect the former inhabitants from the rabid storms that raged around them.

Her dad told her the underground city was a giant seal in and of itself that maintained the massive whirlpools and storms as part of the village's defence system. That of course intrigued her inner sealing enthusiast to no end.

Her mother's grave had been a simple one in the compound, and as she lit the incense stick, Naruko had thought of everything shed ever wanted to tell her mother, hoping it would be passed on through the prayers to the part of her mother's spirit that still existed for one meeting inside her.

After the short visit of her own, her father had approached, and begged her to forgive him for it, before announcing that he had some notable feelings for Anko. Naruko hadn't been surprised by that though.

She knew he wasn't trying to replace her mother, and she'd seen more of her dad since he started getting close to her therapist. Besides, she didn't want him to die alone and old, and Anko was awesome with poisons and stuff.

The visit to the grave hadn't been the most intriguing thing she'd ever done, but Naruko was very glad for the stop. Being able to talk to her mother at her grave rather than a simple plead or similar bolstered confidence she didn't know had been waning.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So, quite a few things happened in this chapter; next chapter will have Konoha's arrival in Kirigakure, and some training developments for Naruko. As well as some for Sasuke in terms of his mentality. XD then we get to the exams themselves *cackles*<strong>_

_**The Tim Burton surreality had been feeding my brain with the plot so hopefully something original. On Naruko's name, I never thought about it, but this was a good chance to think on it in Japanese. It's about time she starts to get her Hiraishin again, and that requires lightning.**_

_**Her name obviously wouldn't have the same connotations that Naruto's would, since I seriously doubt Minato would name his daughter after a ramen garnish. No matter what, it just isn't a girl's name, and I think Jiraiya would cry if a girl was named after Narutomaki. **_

_**No, as bad as he is at showing it, Minato is a very devoted Dad, so he'd give her some big fancy name, and this is what I came up with; **_**波風 鳴光**_**.**_

_**The first two kanji are her surname, Namikaze ('**_**Sea/Waves**_**' and '**_**Wind**_**'). The two after that make up the first two syllables, Na-ru ('**_**Roar**_**') and lastly the last syllable, Ko ('**_**Light**_**'). So altogether her first name means '**_**Roaring Light**_**'. **_

_**In katakana her name is as usual; **_**ナルコ**_**. I know that light is usually pronounced Hikari, but there are other readings of it, and this is one of them. I'm not making it up :) the same one is in Amaterasu. **_

_**I did have some other ideas for it, but I thought it added some more layers to her character this way, and keeps the link to storms and such without making Jiraiya cry XD**_

_**Song Quote is '**_**Welcome to Mystery**_**' by the Plain White T's.**_


	23. Chunin: Part IV

**Stupid Sensei**  
><strong>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<strong>

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty-Three - -<strong>  
><strong>Chunin ~ Part IV<strong>

* * *

><p><em>'This is a place where your mind can escape all the problems today and go far, far away.<br>_this is a town with no history; welcome to mystery.'__

* * *

><p>After stopping on the ruins of Uzushiogakure for the two teams who were managing to make a living on the island, the boat took a further three days to reach the main islands of the Water Country peninsula.<p>

After departing the ship, the Hokage was met by a stuttering boy with a large sword on his back, who announced that he was there to guide them through the infamous mangrove swamps to the village.

Ino immediately glued her eyes to the boy, dragging Naruko up ahead with the excuse that she should walk with her dad (_'for the sake of politics!'_) accompanying her and immediately introducing herself to the Kirigakure boy (who seemed to fall apart with all the attention).

Naruko quickly let herself hang back till she was walking with her team again, not wishing to be linked to any more international incidents.

Needless to say the journey to their overnight camp was a long one, but it had been worth it in the end; since they were in company of Kirigakure officials, it would have been a bad idea to sleep with her dad rather than stay with her team.

Since there were rules for Kunoichi before they got past Chunin, that mean she had to sleep in the same tent as Sasuke. That was a serious opportunity, but she hadn't quite figured how how to use it, but it was still an opportunity, and by the gods she would use it.

The same could not be said of her damn Hiraishin. After helping to set up the tents Naruko had gone off with Kiba and Ino to the nearby '_safe_' lake to so some training. She really wanted to get her Hiraishin under control but...

Naruko yelped as her chakra blew her into a nearby tree rather than the grass at the base of its trunk, sending her crashing on the bark. Picking herself up fro the ground, she shook the fog from her head and started merging her wind and lightning chakras together.

She could get it to... Well, she wasn't sure what percentage, but there was only a small part of it that refused to mix properly. She could almost feel it! She mixed her chakra, which wasn't as hard as she would have thought after a few hours of more clone-training, and felt it coalescing together.

Then focusing on her chakra and her destination, she formed her two elemental handseals, muttered hiraishin, and then... Promptly ended up crashing into _trees!_ She had so many bruises she looked like a patchwork quilt!

She didn't understand what was going on! Tsunade had said all she needed to do was mix her two chakras together! She had decent enough knowledge of lightning to mix with her wind chakra properly, but...

It fizzled out! She felt warm as she traveled, the wind screeching like a bird past her ears, the it all got cold, and she got thrown against the bloody tree!

"Maybe you're mixing them wrong, I mean, wind and lightning don't normally mix do they? Wind is a natural insulator against it, so maybe you should try using less?" Ino suggested from her spot out in the surface of the lake.

She was currently working with her own water element, using a very fluid set of movements that doubled as a set of katas, focusing on the tendrils of water swirling around her.

"Already tried it - I just crackled on the spot of a few seconds" Naruko grumbled.

"So add more lightning" Kiba said from the rocky shore where he was sculpting a large square block of earth into a mode of Akamaru.

"Doesn't work either, I flit around the place like a firefly that's been sipping the sake too much - it's like... the lightning is the kick-off power, and the wind insulates it so it focuses on one location but..."

"Maybe you need more pressure - you work well under pressure" Kiba suggested, stopping his carving for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face that made Naruko nervous.

"I _am_ under pressure! The Chunin exams start in three days! We'll be in Kirigaure tomorrow! I need to get this today!" she replied.

"No, I mean physical pressure" Kiba replied, before proceeding to send a whole storm of boulders towards her.

Panicking Naruko pulled up her fire chakra and rabidly made some handseals as she darted away from the rocks following her.

"Katon; Kitsune Bi!" she yelled, turning to face the balls of rock.

Several orbs of fire for ice in a circle around her, then sot out towards Kiba's rocks. They exploded into smithereens, but a larger rock shot growth the smoke. Unable to avoid it completely without it, Naruko brought up the wind and lightning chakra and aimed for a tree on the shoreline, hoping to grab the branch.

She fell into the water instead.

Kiba burst into laughter, Ino yelled, and after some fuming, Naruko stomped off back towards her tent. She so badly wanted to murder Kiba, but he had just given her a _perfect_ opportunity to mess with Sasuke's head a little.

She figured that granted him a reprieve from retaliation this time.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sighed and flopped onto his sleeping bag, trying to banish a variety of worries from his mind; worries for the political leanings the Chunin exams that would start in a few days, worry about Sakura, and last but not least, his team.<p>

After what he had heard from Naruko's father last night along with the other Jonin, he knew that his team was going be targeted no matter what. That was not going to help them get through a very gruelling test in a completely unfamiliar environment, even if they had grown up enough to handle the pressure.

That said, Sasuke was getting very worried by just how much Naruko had grown up in past few years. Physically at least. She'd gone off down to the lake with her two friends from the academy, and...

That damn Inuzuka brat followed her around like a dog in heat! Sasuke was certain that if he hadn't made it a point to glare at the little brat all the time there would be some rather risky interaction going on behind her father's back.

There were strict expectations on the clan heirs, bothe girls and boys, and while Naruko didn't have a clan in the familial sense of the word, they still applied to her since she had Uzumaki lineage. Kiba too. If she liked him seriously fair enough, but if Kiba didn't keep it in his pants there would be political hell...

Fortunately, nothing seemed to be going on at the moment, but he couldn't be too careful with Naruko. He sometimes thought she deliberately went looking for trouble just to rile him up.

As if on cue, there was a zipping sound as the tent flap opened, and a shivering, soaked blonde came into the tent, her teeth chattering.

"What on _earth...?_"

"That idiot Inuzuka is what happened! I fell in the lake and I haven't done my washing in case leeches got into my stuff! I figured I could wash it all when we got to Kirigakure tomorrow but that moron...!"

Naruko trailed off in a fit of swears that his mother would have scrubbed her mouth out for, and before he could blanch, Sasuke's training kicked in.

"Get those off, you need to dry off before you change into anything else. Even if the water's safe to drink, you'll be lucky if you haven't caught more than a cold. Use a heat technique to dry your underwear off and I'll give you something of mine till tomorrow for sleeping in" he instructed - he doubted she would be going outside again.

Naruko blinked, flushed bright red, but nodded, and unzipped her short-suit and started pulling of the mesh shirt and shorts she had on beneath it; Sasuke almost rolled his eyes at her silly actions, but shrugged it off, and pulled one of the short sleeved shirts that went with his Jonin uniform and a pair of loose trousers from his own pack instead.

Turning back to hand them to her, his mind froze when he caught sight of her beneath the clothes; it wasn't as if he often looked at his student in her underwear, so the sight of her in her knickers and that one-shoulder leather and mesh undershirt Kunoichi wore took him by surprise.

He hadn't realised she was so... That was to say... He'd never, _ever_ though of Naruko in that sort of way, and he certainly wasn't now, but she was _definitely..._

Sasuke didn't quite know what to think. He just noticed how very _smooth_ the skin on her legs and midriff looked. Then he realised he was _staring _at his_ student_, and promptly pulled his eyes away, handing over the clothes he usually wore as casual wear

Once the rustle of clothing stopped, he allowed himself to look at her again. Dear gods, she really had grown up... and he would be lying to himself if he pretended it didn't catch his notice.

* * *

><p>Naruko's first thought of Kirigakure as they approached it on another boat was that it looked kind of... amazing.<p>

It looked like it was standing on solid earth at a glance from a distance, but close inspection showed her that it was built on floating mangrove islands, within a huge, natural hot spring lake. People used small boats or even simply boards of wood to flat between the island on business, islands that were constantly moving.

It looked like the place would be a nightmare to infiltrate, but Naruko was really focusing on the hot-spring water...

She loved being a ninja, but she liked being clean too. A bath was long overdue, and Water Country hot springs were supposedly some of the best the five nations (the safe ones at any rate)...

Or at least, she would after anther training session - she was determined to fix her damn Hiraishin before the exams started. Looking around, she had the sinking feeling that she was going to need it quite a bit one they started...

She knew there was something she was missing, and it felt like it was staring at her right in the face... She knew she had the balance of her chakra right, but it still didn't work...

"You need to add something else."

Naruko blinked, then glanced at the red-headed girl from Uzushiogakure that had appeared beside her; she had a beige shirt, mesh bodysuit, and a skirt on, and Naruko had seen her wandering around the boat with an orange haired boy.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Your chakra - I saw you training earlier and... I thought I'd..."

"How would you know? And why tell me - you're just giving me an advantage" Naruko asked suspiciously.

"You're Kushina-sama's daughter right? That makes you family, sort of, so we're fine in my book. Sort of - my mum was her cousin or something so... You need to add something to your chakra. It's not mixing because you're not adding something to it" the girl shrugged.

Naruko had never heard her mother be referred to as '_Kushina-sama_' before... But the girl seemed sincere, so she might as well give her words some heed. Naruko would take any hint at this point.

"Alright, I'll think about it, but how do you know?" Naruko replied curiously.

"I'm a sensor type. A really good one. That's all I'm saying though" the girl shrugged.

Naruko could understand that, but it told her a great deal by itself; if she was a good enough sensor to notice she wasn't using she her technique properly...

"What's your name?" Naruko called after the girl as she sauntered away down beneath the deck.

"Uzumaki Karin" the redhead replied.

"Thanks Karin!"

The girl gave no indication of having heard her, but Naruko was sure she had. Giving the girl another short glance, she too disappeared beneath the deck to pack her things.

She had two days to find out what was going on with her damned Hiraishin, and she wasn't about to loose any time over it.

* * *

><p>"Alright, do you remember what we talked about last night?" Sasuke asked the three teenagers in front of him.<p>

Naruko, Choji, and Lee all nodded.

"Don't trust anyone if we get separated, which we most likely will without confirming each others identities with the checks" Naruko repeated.

"Purify everything before eating it, and dose ourselves with antidotes everyday" Choji added.

"Don't be scared to kill the other participants if they pose a threat to our own youthful endeavours for promotion" Lee added, raising his hand jovially.

Sasuke nodded, and ignoring all the other people nearby, gave each of his Genin a hug in turn. Choji settled for a simple pat on the back with one arm, and Lee nearly suffocated him. Naruko's was the worst though.

It seemed as though he had to remind himself not to pay attention to her... Growing up. He didn't understand why he was seeing it so vividly all of a sudden, but it was starting to get both morally worrying and distracting.

But today was the Chunin Exams though, so it took a secondary place on his list of worries. They had been training straight for the past two days, going over techniques and how to survive the foreign environment, and now was the day of the exams.

Kirigakure always had the same set up for the Chunin exams, from what Sasuke knew. Some sort of interview followed by the two week long survival test. Sort of. There were always differences to it. One year the interview had been another form of test after the survival test, a sort of memory test.

Another year had been the questions asked be answered with actions within the survival test itself. Sasuke couldn't say much about what his brats were going to end up getting. He did know it would be very trying however.

Naruko's terse demeanour earlier told him she had at least some knowledge on the current political predicament in the exams. As it stood, she was prime to be a targeted kill, and legally there would be nothing anyone could do about it since she had signed the consent form...

"I'll see you after the survival test. Keep your eyes open. Die, and I will learn Shodaime-sama's Edo Tensei so I can kill you myself" he warned.

The three brats grinned in response, before attacking him for another hug, then turning and heading through to the interview hall beyond the doors.

Sasuke still didn't feel entirely certain that things were going to go as planned, but the examiner guarding the doors didn't look like a pushover, and the last thing anyone needed was an international incident.

Thankfully he had a distraction.

"Yes?" he asked the white-cloaked ANBU who had appeared silently, without any instance of noise or movement as he headed down a deserted corridor away from the examination room.

"Hokage-sama requests your assistance during the summit of the Gokage, Uchiha-Taicho."

Sasuke frowned at the old rank the junior addressed him with; it had been several years since he had been spoken to with _that_ title...

"I've retired - I'm a Jonin-sensei now; my participation in any part of these negotiations would be setting my Genin up as cheats" he said, wondering what the response would be.

"Hokage-sama has called you of retirement for the duration of the Chunin exams as one of his official guards for the summit. As such, the participation of your students in the Exams will be unaffected" the ANBU replied in a reasuring tone.

An official ANBU guard? It appeared things were worse than Sasuke had first thought. Usually the guard was a couple of good Jonin. For the Hokage to be taking an ANBU guard... That was not good at _all_.

"Very well - I'll report in to him as soon as possible" he sighed, feeling like he was setting himself up for disaster already.

He didn't bother asking about his old uniform - it wouuld probaably be in a sealed scroll in his hotel room already.

The ANBU said nothing, only giving a nod of acknowledgement before disappearing into the shadows, leaving Sasuke to his growing list of concerns.

* * *

><p>"...and in the event of poisoning? How do you plan to combat the natural toxins here?"<p>

"Basic research and preparation" Naruto replied to her question, feeling a little bored; it was clear that the questions were designed to see how much information they would unwittingly give away under questioning.

The less information she gave away the better. The questioner turned to Choji and Lee, who were both as convinced by the act as she was, and Naruko turned her thoughts to her ongoing goal to seduce her teacher.

He was acting a little funny around her today, and she didn't know whether it was good or bad progress. As she pondered, the questioner droned on and on, his tone and his voice so flat and dull that it was actually making her sleepy.

It wouldn't be a bad thing to take a nap; Choji and Lee could handle the questions, and she need her sleep. She almost had a breakthrough with her Hirashin last night.

Something had filled the missing gap, and she'd transported herself to one end of the training field. Consequently she'd spent the next five hours trying to figure out what she'd done. She was exhausted in all reality, so a nap was probably a really good idea.

It was with relief that Naruko's eyes drifted closed.

* * *

><p>Sasuke scratched at the straps on his arm guards, the black armour standing out against the white of the other ANBU in the group surrounding Naruko's father.<p>

He wasn't used to wearing this stuff anymore - his old backless armour felt strange, like it had the first time he'd worn it, but more worrying than his old ANBU captain armour was the boiling tension between the Gokage.

The Mizukage, a woman named Mei, seemed very unnerved behind her sly smile to have such a... _diplomatic_ bunch of people in her village for what essentially surmounted to peace talks. Sasuke didn't really blame her.

The Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was one of the stubbornest old fools Sasuke had ever met, and unfortunately had a very formidable Bloodline Selection to back it up with. His apprentice Deidara, whom Sasuke had met on several occasions, was nothing to snort a either, even if he was a bit bomb happy, and his granddaughter was just as tricky.

Sunagakure's Kazekage was equally stubborn, and not nearly as forward thinking, but at least he had a calm head on his shoulders. Or at least, he was rumoured to be. Sunagakure was the second most secretive village after all. Sasuke didn't even know who their current Jinchuriki was.

Then there was his own leader, and the man's dark-skinned Raikage brother. Both cut from the same cloth, _literally_, they were as bad as Ōnoki... Sasuke sincerely hoped they could keep their blustery tempers to themselves, otherwise the peace talks might become the international incident everyone was trying to avoid.

A man from one of the neutral territories opened the meeting, and then the Tsuchikage spoke.

"Alright Ä, your villagers and council have issued a vote that _reeks_ of a coup d'etat, so be a good by and exlain all tis for us" the Kazkage stated.

"yes, do tell us; what exactly possessed you to kidnap another Kage's daughter? We're you asking for war, or were you just born without the sense the gods gave to geese?" Ōnoki demanded, getting straight to the point too.

Chaos ensued, and Sasuke really, _really_ wished there was such a thing as permanent resignation from the ANBU.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Urgh. Chunin exam chapters giving me headaches. <strong>_

_**Don't really like this chapter much, but don't know how else to get things started. I have the sneakery, sorta, it's the execution that's the problem. Plus, politics is such a bitch to write. I can't decide if I hate politics more than fight scenes or not...**_

_**Genuinely trying to do better than my usual filler-standard with the fight scenes this time, which is the cause of the chapter hold-up. I don't now what it is, but find fight scenes positively uninspiring outside of watching them.**_

_**I love the olympics though - I cried at every GB medal ceremony so far. Contemplating a tribute oneshot featuring Athlete!Naruko and OlympicStaffWorker!Sasuke. Anyone interested? Yeah, I'm obsessed, so what? This is a great year to be British - GO TEAM GB!**_

_***Ahem* Chapter Quote is from '**_**Welcome to Mystery**_**' by the Plain White T's. Should be some actual fighting next chapter for those waiting for it. **_

_**Hope you liked the chapter :)**_


	24. Chunin: Part V

**Stupid Sensei**  
><strong>サスケ &amp; ナルコ<strong>

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty-Four - -<br>****Chunin ~ Part V**

* * *

><p><em>'Imagine a city where everything's pretty, and you sir, you rule the kingdom.<em>  
><em>You call the shots, you can do what you want to... Oh, just imagine the freedom'<em>

* * *

><p>Naruko groaned as she sat up, feeling very foggy and lightheaded.<p>

The air was sweet, horribly sweet; eyes snapping wide, she filtered her chakra through her body and inner organs even as she climbed into the trees that made up Kirigakure's mangrove swamps, protecting herself from the toxins of the local greenery.

Glancing around for signs of Choji and Lee as she climbed the tree branches, she found herself alone, but she did find her fake-ish backpack. There were some things in it, but most of it was for show to the interview panel and other examinees. All her decent stuff had been stored in a very large storage seal on her back.

She didn't have anything large, but she did have a lot of water purifiers and antidote essentials. She found her bow and arrows too, and yanked them out of the tree branches and onto her back, tying the pack onto the belt that hung over her hips.

Having regained all her equipment, she quickly took a look around frrom the top of the tree to see where she was; the view was certainly something to behold.

The arena walls were miles away, and there was a monitoring technique in a dome shape reaching over the entire fortress, an orange glow radiating miles above her head.

Around the arena-walls she could see strong, unpleasant looking spiked fences, most likely fences bolstered by lightning (the very thought made her queasy). The nearest one to her was probably between five or ten miles away...

There was water everywhere of course, the exams were taking place in the middle of a mangrove swamp after all. Naruko didn't think much to her chances of swimming through it though. Leeches and piranhas were just two of the unpleasant creatures lurking in it. Kirigakure ninjas would be another.

It would bolster her lightning tenfold, but it would also do the same for anyone else's. She didn't want to chance that. Besides, she was a Konoha ninja. She hand an advantage amongst the leaves and branches, provided she didn't run into a suffocating willow.

If she ran into one of those, she was screwed. She hoped that Choji and Lee would recognise one if they saw it. Speaking of her teammates, where exactly _were_ they?

As if to answer her question, a large voice sounded around the stadium, one she recognised as that of the Mizukage. It was a mimic of her voice however - she was in the middle of secret peace talks with her dad.

"_Welcome to the Kirigakure Chunin Arena. Your first goal is your only goal; defeat as many of your opponents as you can. the top twenty Genin will qualify for the city arena semifinals, and later the final exams. The very best of luck to all of you._"

A large gong sounded sounding the start of the exams, a very large one; Naruko was certain the thing had echoed throughout the whole of the valley in which the mangrove based arena was built in.

Quickly heading down into the lower branches of her tree, Naruko focused her chakra, selecting a tiny amount of chakra from her three different varieties and shielding herself as she drew on an even smaller amount of chakra from the Kyuubi.

Sniffing the air, she first searched those of Choji and Lee; Lee's was distant, and she'd guess that he was on the complete opposite end of the arena. Choji's however... She couldn't pick it out at all. That wasn't too worrying though. There was another end to the valley arena, yet more miles away from her. He could be down there.

Dropping concern for her teammates for the moment, Naruko sniffed again, searching for the smell of another person in her vicinity.

'_He is located to the north east_' the Kyuubi informed her.

Naruko smirked then headed off in search of her first opponent.

* * *

><p>"I still don't see why you had such problems with this Ä! You know better than to try and kidnap another village's Jinchuuriki, never mind another Kage's daughter! Not only were you <em>asking<em> for a village massacre, you disrupted the balance of the tailed beasts set down by the Shodaime Hokage!" Ōnoki persisted, after what must have been two hours of yelling and arguing.

"Onoki is right - that balance has been in place for over a century! We can scratch at each others fences for more territory and wage war all we like, but disrupting the balance of the jinchuuriki is something our Daimyo's all agreed to and insist be maintained as International law!" the Kazekage agreed, equally loudly.

"Indeed, as the law goes, Minato is completely excused for attacking your village because, disregarding his personal interest in the matter, you broke the power balance! If this had gone any further you would have been against war on four sides Ä!" Mei scolded in her gentle, yet ironclad manner.

Sasuke shifted uneasily as the Gokage continues to argue; being in the midst of the five most powerful ninjas in the world as they clawed at one another's throats was not the easiest situation to be in. Nor was he comfortable in his old armour; the back that made room for his genetically manipulated talents left his shoulders very cold.

Sasuke sorely wished his brother had been available for the job instead. Unfortunately he was giving academy students a brief tour of the more humane sections of the T&I department, and giving a guest lesson of its role in Konoha.

This was hell! Sasuke didn't know when someone was going to strike or not, and all the Kages seemed to be in a constant state of anger. Surely this was the reason most communications between the Gokage occurred through written notes? It was much safer. The only things at risk were items of furniture. Possibly office assistants.

"I just told you I didn't order it! Karui acted of her own accord, and her judgement was usually trustworthy! If I'd known she was doing so something so stupid you can be certain I wouldn't be standing here talking to you!" Ä snapped; the tense chakra in the room was playing havoc with Sasuke's nerves.

"It is still your responsibility! Even if you didn't order the kidnap, your teachings are responsible for this Ä! You've been preparing for a war for years when need was unnecessary, and your Jonin follow your example! A Kage is responsible for his ninja as a parent is to their child!" the Kazekage intoned.

The growl of anger from the Raikage ignited the spark that had been blurring around the room dangerously, and all of a sudden, Sasuke felt the tingle of chakra ghosting through the room. He leapt forward even as the other guards did.

The grey tone of the genetic alterations Orochimaru had given him spread over his skin, and the clawed wings emerging from his back in the blink of an eye.

Once he had managed to control the mental side effects to nothing more than a slightly irritable personality, Sasuke had trained very diligently in the use of his new genetic talents. He was somewhat proud of his control over it.

His sword clashed against a large one owned by Darui, and Sasuke glared at the man through his mask, taking a certain smugness from the alarm the foreigner showed at the sight of his ugly transformation.

Discomfort aside, Sasuke did like the reputation he'd built for himself in the ANBU. Orochimaru's little present had given him a certain amount of intimidating legend in foreign ANBU ranks, and it was moderately fun to exert it again.

The room was frozen, and then the man from Iron Country who was overseeing the meeting angrily demanded for them to maintain themselves. Glaring at Darui, Sasuke turned his body back to normal, before flickering back to Minato's side.

He kept his sharingan on however, trying to see whose chakra network was active, see who had cast the start of a technique. He couldn't see anything, meaning it had been too quick, or the culprit had stopped as quickly as they started.

"Let's ignore the consequences and what might have been's for now, shall we? What I want to know is why you were so quickly overthrown in your own village! I find it hard to believe that such a small force could take down the buildings of an _entire_ village, let alone one of the great five! What aren't you telling us Ä?" the Mizukage asked, her tone calm, if worried and suspicious.

Sasuke heard his leader take a sharp inhalation of breath as Ä froze. Sasuke's blood pressure couldn't be doing him any favours either. The tense demeanour of the room had dropped too quickly, and then there was the relation between two of the Kages of which Mei asked.

The familial relationship between the two Kages was a very, very closely guarded secret. The fact that there was one at all was enough to trigger political upheaval on the scale of border changes.

Both of the two Kage could potentially be deposed for newer faces to maintain the stability of the two countries. Or simply just war fires would start burning; most likely it would be both.

"He didn't protect his village because it was his own niece he was torturing" Minato said bluntly.

For a moment, a pin dropping would have been the loudest sound in the room. The three guards of the Kazekage had dropped jaws - even the bored looking red-haired boy. Ōnoki's shock made way for very amused grin, before he broke out into gales of laughter that made his guards jump nervously.

"I knew it! I _knew_ that old codger wasn't as clean-cut as he liked to show! I knew he had affairs, but _this...!_ Ohh, this is too good!" he choked, pounding his fist on the table.

"What?" the Kazekage asked, sounding a little confused.

"The Sandaime Raikage; he was a very stiff sort, _too_ stiff be as proper as he liked to show. I had a few of my ANBU follow him during his educational visits to Fire Country out of personal curiosity. I never had any proof he was having an affair until now though. I presume the Fire Daimyo is aware you paternity Minato?"

"Of course he is - he said as long as my mother was from Fire Country and I didn't make gossip of the fact he didn't care if Orochimaru was my secret boyfriend. He's rather relaxed about a person's background, and the Fire Country populace usually take more precedence for a woman's line anyway. My mother was from a good family, so he excuses my foreigner relatives." the Hokage replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Gods of Water above, this is indeed a mess isn't it?" the Mizukage asked sounding like she was developing a headache.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel the chestnut-haired woman had summed the situation up rather succinctly.

"Why don't we talk about the proposal for a summit of the Jinchuuriki the Water Daimyo put forth for discussion last month, come back to this after the afternoon break when we've had time to think things through?" the Kazekage asked.

For the first time in five hours, the Gokage actually agreed on something.

* * *

><p>Naruko dipped under the arm of the Kirigakure ninja, ramming her elbow his side; as he fell down at e force b of the impact, Naruko summoned a kunai from one of the hidden seals on her wrists before ramming it into his back.<p>

His body exploded, coating her in water. Swearing, she whirled around, raising a kunai to the the short blunt sword that was coming towards her - thank god Sasuke had made them all practice with sword defences. Kirigakure were big specialists in them, Kumo too.

Blocking the sword, Naruko summoned her lightning chakra, charging it through her and using the water he had soaked her with to help blast it out towards him. Grabbing onto his arms, she channelled it through him, trying not to fry him completely, but simply knock him out.

She just didn't want him waking up. she was prepared to kill someonehad she had to - she'd done it during her failed escape attempt in Kumo - but she didn't have to actively try to kill people. Unless it was a Kumo or an Iwagakure ninja. She had no sympathy for Kumo or Iwa ninja.

His second clone attacked as rapidly as the first, but she was ready for him somewhat. Summoning a kunai from the storage tattoos on her wrists, she slammed it into him, more worried about stopping him than where it was heading.

It sank straight through his throat, and he gave a sickening gurgle before collapsing to the ground behind her, eyes vacant with dismay as he took his last breath.

Naruto took several seconds to breath, then quickly headed through the trees; that was the latest in a string of Kirigakure ninjas that had attacked her, some with help from Iwa contestants. She couldn't quite make out how long had passed since the first day, which led her to suspect she'd accidentally ingested something hallucinogenic, or there was a technique over the arena to confuse them.

In the long term, both were as bad as the other, and she had yet to find Lee or Choji. She had asked the Kyuubi to do the sniffing for her, and all he seemed to know about Choji was that he was alive, but his chakra was off, odd.

Lee had been nearby, but he had disappeared when the Kirigakure ninja had attacked her... It was strange - she had expected the Iwa and Kumo ninjas to attack her, but so far it was mostly Kirigakure ninjas that had attacked her. Maybe she was just reading too much into it?

Sighing she set of through the trees, using the vines and trunks and thick branches to propel herself through them, following the scent of her closest teammate - according to the Kyuubi, it was still Kee. They needed to meet up, plan ahead...

And she needed to fix whatever was wrong with Choji. As she headed through the trees, she caught a new scent on her nose, an oily scent. One that perturbed her a great deal. It wasn't until she was on the edge of one of the vast lakes that had not yet filled with mangrove trees that she realised what it was.

Beneath the unpleasant, oily scent, was _Choji's_ familiar, comforting, friendly one. Picking up the scent, she tried to follow it, but the wet branches and waterlogged terrain made it incredibly difficult, and eventually even the Kyuubi had to give up.

There were no scents to follow in this marshy terrain.

For several hours, Naruko stumbled around, trying to find either Lee or Choji by feeling out for their chakra, but she was terrible at sensing, and it yielded no results whatsoever. Eventually, she slumped against the side of a small rocky cliff, part of a small island that had formed amongst the marshes.

It was only about five meters from the ground, and after one day of searching and being hounded by attackers, Naruko was ready to collapse.

The cackle and croak of poisonous frogs and wildlife filled the night air, and Naruko couldn't help but think it rather creepy. There weren't any bird calls at night, and it was a little unnerving. She had to rest though

It was with great unease that Naruko fell asleep on the small overhanging ledge surrounded by the calls of frogs, mangroves, and the stillness of the misty dark.

* * *

><p>"I hereby adjourn this meeting so that you may all reflect on the topics discussed so far" the man from iron country overseeing the meeting said wearily.<p>

All the Kages exited through their respective doors, and Sasuke stuck close to Naruko's father as he headed through the hall. Ä was sitting with a very desperate recession as he conversed with Darui and his other guards.

Sasuke _really_ didn't think this was a good idea, but his job wasn't to give comments or opinions. It was to do as he was ordered, and he had been ordered to be a bodyguard for an unspecified length of time, so he kept his mouth shut.

In any case, he had other worries; the Kages had just taken a vote on Ä's deposition predicament, and while the votes had been in his favour... Sasuke was still suspicious. Something about it seemed too easy.

Ä should _never_ have allowed back, no matter if he was guilty or had outside conflicts of interest. One of those Kages didn't want the matter of Kumogakure being pulled up too deeply. It had been too subtle for Sasuke to know who, but he was certain that _someone_ in the council room was not who they appeared to be morally.

Then again, he was suspicious of every waitress who brought him food in public, so maybe his opinion was a little too eager to find something suspicious.

"Can I ask what you think of all this captain?" Minato asked, falling back to the old habit of non-naming ANBU members under their masks.

"I think something isn't right, but I don't know what sir. Ä should never have been allowed to stay on as Kage, especially with his current problems. Either people are working together, or a mild compulsion technique is being used. It would have escaped the notice of my sharingan, but it would be enough to influence the voting..." he admitted.

"I thought as much myself..." Minato sighed, doing nothing to bolster the sense of foreboding that was beginning to settle on Sasuke's shoulders.

"...but when is that anything new? Something goes haywire every time we hold these _blasted_ exams!" he added, a tone of frustration grating on his voice through his teeth.

Sasuke couldn't help but agre, yet even as he did, he saw the flurry of movement ahead of them. There were barely seconds between the kunai thrown and his catch of it, inches from the neck of Naruko's father.

The two trainees and the regular ranked ANBU also in the group immediately darted after the shadow that had thrown the kunai as Sasuke quickly wheeled the man around, and led him back to the room that had been put aside for his use during the council meeting.

"I think that confirms our suspicions, does it not?" Minato laughed bitterly as Sasuke closed the door behind them, making certain the chakra responsive locks were in working order. Sasuke could only hope his Genin were faring better in the exams than politics was, but Naruko's father had already said it.

Something always went wrong during the Chunin exams, and this something had already started.

* * *

><p>Naruko was running through the trees, having woken at sunrise on her cliff and tried to make progress through the arena in terms of opponents.<p>

So far, she had killed five Kumogakure ninjas, and one more Kirigakure ninja. The rest had been Iwagakure ones who had either forfeited, or simply been knocked out. She was no closer to finding her teammates, but she had to try.

Right now however, she was being followed. Finding an open space of water and concentrating her chakra at her feet, Naruko stopped atop it and whirled around, a sedative laced arrow whipping through the air towards the Kunoichi that followed her.

Hinata caught the arrow deftly, dropping it into the water harmlessly. A glare of determination was behind her veined pale eyes, and Naruko's gut churned with both dread an anticipation at the thought of fighting the girl.

Hinata said nothing; she had no need to anyway. Naruko knew why she hated her, and it wasn't unjustified, but she had _her_ reasons for things too, and she wasn't about let a _Hyūga_ best her at anything.

Hinata charged at her, her fist connecting with her cheek, not even bothering with her family techniques. She simply slammed her fist into her face, and Naruto responded with a kick to the girl's stomach.

They were both sent skidding back over the water for a moment, then the chaos began as Hinata charged once more.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Finally got time to finish this chapter. Got some actual fighting in, and some twisty political wrangling that will play a part later. Some of sasuke's years as a Genin - ANBU will show up, as will the reason for Hinata's hatred of Naruko, hopefully in the next few chapters.<strong>_

_**Hope you liked the chapter :)**_


	25. Problems: Part I

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>サスケ <strong>**& ****ナルコ****

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only kunoichi on his genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty Five - -<br>****Problems ~ Part I**

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><p><em>'I invite you to a gold where there is no such thing as time, and every creature lends themselves to change your state of mind, and the girl that chased the rabbit, drank the wine, and took the pill, has locked herself in limbo to see how it truly feels.<em>'

* * *

><p>With a mix of luck, years of practice, and genuine talent, Naruko managed to dodge Hinata's flat palms, flitting around behind her and kicking her back fiercely.<p>

Hinata stumbled forward towards the water, using her chakra-covered palms to flip herself back up, before lunging again, this time weaving the hand signs for a water technique. A barrage of large watery streams darted towards her. Feeling one of them hit her in the stomach, Naruko was sent beneath the water.

Praying to the Gods that all the antidotes she'd taken before the exams had even started were working, Naruko pulled herself back up to the surface as quickly as she could, using the opportunity the dark, murky waters gave her to create a handful of clones.

Breaking the surface, Hinata charged once again, and it was with only with some ungainly moves that Naruko managed to avoid the attack. Hinata had improved her Jūken by a very great deal since their last real fight. A _very_ great deal.

Even as she managed to dodge most of the attacks, there were still a few of her chakra points that she could feel had closed up. Building up some chakra of her own as Hinata lunched towards her, Naruto started to mould her fire chakra.

But Hinata was too fast for any of her long-distance fire techniques to work, and so she switched at the very last minute to her Hiraishin. As long as she transported herself in the middle of the water she would be fine.

Seconds before Hinata's flat palms hit her, Naruko found all of her chakra mixing together, and she twisted through the air, before landing at the exact point she had aimed for. Comprehension finally dawning on just what she needed to do to activate her Hiraishin, a smirk crossed her face.

No _wonder_ she hadn't managed it before! It was so obvious now...

She could win the fight. She'D had a good chance before, but the Hiraishin had been one of her major trump cards over Hinata after she had managed to activate the kunai version in the Academy. Now that she had a complete understanding of her transformed version, Naruko felt a lot more competent.

Charging some wind chakra in her hand - not quite at full strength, since Hinata was a Konoha ninja, too - Naruko let rip a series of furious blustery blades towards her dark-haired rival; Hinata countered them with some Jūken blasts from her palms, smoothing out the grizzled wind chakra with her accurate palm movements.

Weaving several hand signs in rapid succession as Hinata battled against the blades of wind, Naruko replaced herself with a clone, flickered up into a thickly-leafed tree, and focused as much of her chakra as was sensible onto projecting the illusion out towards Hinata.

She didn't think it would work, but it would definitely buy her time. If she could draw the fight out, then it was already hers. She just had to draw it out. She had the stamina, the ability, and the techniques to do it; and even if Hinata was a good kunoichi, she couldn't fight what she couldn't see coming.

For a few moments, in her observation spot, Naruko thought the illusion might actually have worked; then she felt the tell tale haze over her mind, and swore. The Kyuubi quickly coursed his chakra through her, shattering the illusion just in time for Naruko to meet Hinata's attack from behind her with a kunai.

She stopped Hinata's tantō, but the force threw her from the mangrove tree back into the water. Coughing and spluttering from the sudden submersion, she hauled herself back onto the surface, glaring at the Hyūga bitch with gritted teeth.

"I see you actually learned something - that makes a change," Hinata sneered from the tree.

Naruto glared at her, but felt a little flinch all the same. She ignored it, though, and swiped her thumb over one of the seals on her quiver, selecting one or her favourite arrows, and fired it towards Hinata.

It was one of four that would erect a kind of barrier, and a rather special kind of barrier at that: one that accelerated certain things for her opponent. Not time - that was impossible - but attacks. Naruko needed it for the one that had already been playing out.

The arrow grazed Hinata's cheek even as she moved to avoid it; years of fighting the girl had taught Naruto a few of her little habits, so she altered her arrow's trajectory to coincide with them. It landed behind her, and Naruko feigned a curse as Hinata smirked.

What followed were a flurry of dodging and the firing of arrows, all missing Hinata with only a graze of a small cut to show for her efforts. Finally, Naruko let fly one last arrow towards the gap in the ring she had created around them.

The arrow sank through the water as the others had, but even as Hinata watched with alarm the seals on the arrow rise to the surface, glowing an eerie yellow in Hinata's opinion, or a rather comforting one from Naruko's perspective.

Cracking her fingers, Naruko smirked as Hinata glanced round at the complex network of seals, sent some lightning chakra to her fists, and charged. Thrown off by the sudden sign of an on-going strategy, Hinata's movements weren't quite as quick, and Naruko's fist landed on her face.

Hinata screamed as the water beneath their feet bolstered Naruko's electrical attack, and Naruko forced the repugnance back down into the depths of her conscience. It was only for a moment, then with an equally charged kick to the chest, Hinata was sent crashing beneath the waves, just inside the ring of seals.

Hinata was right - Naruko had learned. Much more than she had, and not all of it was good. Unfortunately she had teammates to find, and while Naruko wasn't going to kill a ninja from her own village...

She didn't have many qualms with anything else.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sighed behind his mask as he followed Naruko's father and the Mizukage down the halls and towards the arena observation room.<p>

The council had given up on trying to figure out what to do about Kumogakure yet again; and instead, each of the village leaders were getting an update on the ninjas from their village. It seemed more like a process of going through the motions to Sasuke, though.

There hadn't been any more attacks, but he was nevertheless on edge. He knew that someone in one of the international parties was responsible, and he could have sworn there was a familiar smell in the hallways outside the rooms the Konoha ninjas had been given for their stay...

Not to mention he'd been having sleepless nights from his own unpleasant experieafter that had resulted from his own exams. Lack of sleep didn't really help his already bad paranoia.

But that was it! The kunai looked to be a local one, but Sasuke wasn't stupid enough to point fingers at the Mizukage just yet. There was something odd about her, though. She was unusually stressed, and at times he could have sworn he had seen beads of sweat on her forehead.

Then again, she was dealing with a rather stressful bunch of men, along with the dreaded chūnin exams. Sasuke doubted there had been a single Kage who enjoyed hosting the chūnin exams. His own had been rather pleased that he had been able to avoid hosting them for so long.

Following them into the room, Sasuke watched with some impressed curiosity the sight in front of him.

A sheet of parchment filled the floor, and on all four sides sat perhaps forty shinobi and kunoichi, all with a partner. The partners were manipulating the seals that covered the parchment whilst those they aided sat in chairs not unlike the ones used for interrogation or long-distance communication.

Bowls over their eyes, they reported to their helpers, and as they did, the various numbers and characters of ink changed, updating the status of each genin as news from the arena arrived.

"Bring up the statistics for the Konohagakure participants!" Mei called out to a section of the workers on the left hand side of the room.

Watching from the balcony above, a sort of table emerged in the centre, listing every team, then separated into sections to say whether they were in one group or still separated, whom each member was fighting, how many people they had fought so far, and whether they were still alive.

Glancing for the names of his students, Sasuke felt a slight moment of relief when he found Lee's name. He was fighting a Sunagakure ninja named Kankurō, but he had defeated quite a large number of opponents, and the chart showed he was in the progress of searching for Naruko and Chōji.

"I see your daughter is doing well, although her current opponent might be a tough one," Mei noted.

Sasuke wondered if the tone in her voice was deliberate or not. Bonds of friendship and '_keep-an-eye-on-the-Ex-for-old-times'-sake_' made him feel like telling Anko about it, though. She definitely wouldn't approve of that tone.

Sasuke glanced for Naruko's name even as her father groaned in defeat; finding her name, he felt like mimicking his leader.

Naruko just had to pick a fight with Hinata. Of all the Konoha ninjas that she could have chosen, she picked the only one in her age group that would actually goad her into making mistakes...

"Is something the matter?" Mei asked, a little surprised by the defeated hunch in Minato's shoulder.

"Naruko has several issues with Hinata, and vice versa... It's very possible that they could do each other serious injury, ma'am," Sasuke replied to her question.

"Oh my, so badly? May I ask why?" Mei asked Minato, barely acknowledging the person who had answered her question.

'_No wonder her husband ran off - she's a rude cow_' Sasuke thought to himself as Minato frowned in contemplation.

Part of him hoped he did decide to share, since Naruko was stubbornly tight-lipped on the exact reasons for her friendly hatred of the Hyūga heiress, and Kakashi had only had the same result from Hinata.

He was in luck. The Hokage was in a sharing mood.

"It was something that happened when they were in the academy. Hinata was under a lot of pressure from her father to do well, and Naruko was out to prove she wasn't evil incarnate, as well as living up to the standards people were putting on her for being my daughter. They clashed a lot but it was usually fairly mild - they weren't friends per se, but they didn't hate each other..." he started, a very weary expression coming onto his face that Sasuke recognised immediately.

It was one that Sasuke had often seen him wear when he was just an existence in Naruko's life, mostly before she had been kidnapped.

"Naruko was doing well, Hinata a close second, then their first genjutsu test came up. Hinata should have beaten her in it, by miles, but Naruko actually managed to beat her. At the time she tried to explain it to me, tried to tell me something funny was going on with her grades, but I thought... I thought nothing of it. I just saw it as two rivals picking a fight over something, and they were kids anyway..."

Minato faltered, watching as Hinata's name and Naruko's both glowed red, signifying that the fight might be drawing to a close.

"...the academy instructor in charge of the illusions section turned out to have a dislike for '_Monsters_', so he faked Naruko's theory test results, and covered the practical section himself. Naruko thought she was actually getting the knack of it for a while, then Hinata activated her byakugan, and caught on that something funny was going on."

Sasuke felt his stomach curl and the anger boil in his chest, and was very glad that Minato hadn't revealed the name of the instructor. Sasuke was a tad more protective of his female student than his male ones, but even that didn't explain the irrational urge to maim something...

Really, it _didn't_. Sasuke didn't know what was happening, but he was having some very irrational reactions to things involving Naruko lately. Nothing was any different about her - not that he'd really noticed, at least -, so he was a bit confused as to where they were coming from.

"...anyway, Hinata told her father, who complained to me, and the man was fired. It was kept quiet, and Naruko retook the test when the new teacher was hired. She passed, _just_, but the Hyūgas were quite bitter about the whole thing."

Sasuke very nearly snorted – _'__bitter'_ wasn't a strong enough word. They'd been causing political hell ever since, trying to bar every new law or idea Minato put forth. They hadn't really succeeded, but that wasn't the _point._

The two Kages started conversation, and Sasuke turned his attention to Chōji. That was when he got the bad feeling again.

"Where are Chōji Akimichi's results? His name is there, but there's nothing for his progress," Sasuke asked, getting a sharp look from Mei.

There was nothing. Just his name, everything else was blank. _Everything_. He couldn't be dead, because they would have been told if he was. It was just as if he didn't exist in the first place. None of those people would be so stupid or so unskilled as to not have included his information - but it wasn't there...

"Ao! What's going on? Where are the results for Akimichi?"

Sasuke watched the beginnings of chaos unravelling below with unease. Something was _definitely_ wrong, and he had every inclination to believe that it involved his students.

* * *

><p>Lee clung to the tree he was hiding behind with a camouflaging illusion with a sick pulse rate.<p>

He couldn't believe what he had just seen. He'd managed to find his way to Naruko's trail, but when it met with Hinata's, he'd decided to give her some room to lash out at the girl. Only the Gods knew how much they needed it.

Instead, he had turned to Chōji 's trail - which had been feeling wrong since he first found it. Following it, he'd passed a lot of dead bodies. That wasn't really surprising, Sasuke-sensei had told him in no uncertain terms that Chōji's berserker side would be very reliable.

Finally, he'd snuck up on Chōji 's trail. Feeling other chakras in the area, he'd been prepared to jump in and aid his teammate. Climbing the thick branches of a tree above the clearing had given him a very different sight, however.

There had been a few ninjas sporting Kirigakure headbands, but their chakras didn't have the slippery feel of the water-based shinobi, along with a good number of Kumogakure ninjas. He had just been standing there, talking with them, with a strange, concentrated look to his face.

Sensing something was amiss, Lee had used a small technique Naruko had taught them to bolster hearing (it turned out medical techniques could be more useful than given credit for). What he had heard made him sick with fear.

"...you won't get an illusion over her anymore. She's trained with the beast inside her a bit more now, and it just starts her chakra flow over again for her now, but if enough of you attack her with lightning, then the fight is already yours. She can't use the Hiraishin properly, and lightning scares the shit out of her. That's all you need to catch her."

Chōji: sweet, loveable, determined _Ch__ō__ji_, selling out one of his teammates? Selling out _Naruko_? The girl was blind as a bat for everyone but their teacher, but Lee was _not_: Chōji was definitely trying to move on, but he was still partially in love with her. He had been as such since their Academy days.

He'd never, _ever_ sell her out, not even under torture. But that was what he had heard before one of the Kumo ninjas had sensed him, Chōji selling them out, and then he'd been forced to take a _'tactical retreat'_ as Sasuke-sensei called it.

Lee was not a boaster, but while he was a strong ninja in his own right, he could not take on a horde of angry Kumo and Kirigakure ninjas. Or his best friend, for that matter.

Waiting till the group searching for him had passed by several minutes, he carefully started concentrating on the closest friendly trail of chakra he could find, and set off south, hoping Naruko would finish her fight with Hinata soon enough.

Chōji needed their help. Lee was certain that it wasn't another '_hidden_' side to Chōji, or that he had been a spy. Something else was happening to him. His chakra wasn't the same. It didn't have the _warm,_ earthy feel that Chōji's did.

It felt watery and unpleasant, and Lee was fairly certain that was exactly what Sasuke-sensei had told them to look out for.

* * *

><p>Naruko slammed her fist into the side of Hinata's face, blocking a deft palm with the side of her arm at the wrist before it could hit her.<p>

It had taken several minutes, but her technique was finally working: Hinata's movements had started to slow down considerably, and that was all she needed to win. She just had to wait a little longer...

Even as the thought entered her head, she could see Hinata's strength slowly being sapped away, or hindered rather. The dark-haired girl slammed another palm towards her, one Naruko deftly dodged and returned with a fist to the stomach.

It was the final hit; Hinata was slammed into the trunk of one of the mangrove trees, before crumpling into a pile amongst its roots. Even as she struggled to get back onto her feet, her muscles were seizing up.

"You poisoned me -!" she snarled, collapsing as she tried to pull herself up the tree trunk.

Naruko smirked at her; that first arrow had been Hinata's downfall, and the acceleration seals had simply helped the _'poison'_ on what normally would have been a much longer route. She could have run off and simply let nature take its course, but the chance to beat Hinata fair and square was too good to pass up.

"I didn't poison you - it's just a muscle relaxant. It'll wear off in a few hours or so. Of course, I could give you the antidote now - I hardly think you want to be stuck here unable to move for a few hours - but only if -"

"No! I'll never lose to _you!_ Not again!" Hinata snarled, and Naruko glowered at her.

"In case you hadn't noticed, you've already lost! Don't get thick-headed in thinking you're the only one with something to prove!" she snapped back.

Hinata simply snorted; it wouldn't be long before she fell unconscious, but would Naruko even want to listen to her? She wasn't sure it was a good idea, but part of her knew that would mean losing to a Hyūga. Naruko refused to lose to a blasted Hyūga.

"Oh yes, poor little demon girl everyone hates, even your dad doesn't have the time of day for you, at least not till recently. At least _my_ father cared enough to realise my training was getting botched because of you! Can't say the same for yours, can you?" Hinata hissed from between numbing lips.

Naruko clenched her teeth for a moment before regaining some slight calm. As if _Hinata_ knew anything. She scoffed at the thought.

"Isn't that why you're so obsessed with your teacher? I mean, he's practically the same age as your dad... Doesn't take much to figure that out, does it?" Hinata snorted, before the muscle poison finally took hold, and she slumped into a pile.

Naruko stared at her for a moment, then turned and stormed away, telling herself the reason for her flinch was not because Hinata had managed to get under her skin.

She just had to find her team.

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><p><strong><em>And so, Chapter 25 finally arrives. I'm so sory for the late update, but new college course and work don't make for good muses lol. That said, I've missed writing so much!<em>**

**_Some background on the NarukoVsHinata mess from Minato, a well as an indication of building issues in the background - it's the chunin exams after all. _**

**_They never go well, and I have to bring my favourite villai into the story. It simply isnt right without him *sniff* _****_I'll say no more - a few of you might know who I'm talking about, but most won't so I won't spoil anything :D_**

**_Song Quote is from 'Her Name Is Alice' by Shinedow. Alice In Wonderland soundtrack is definitely good for the muses._**

**_TTFN_**  
><strong><em>Nat.<em>**  
><strong><em>xxx<em>**

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><p>Thanks to Vermouth for Beta'ing :)<p> 


	26. Problems: Part II

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ ****& ナルコ**

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only kunoichi on his genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

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><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty Six - -<br>****Problems ~ Part II**

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><p><em>'If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense;<br>__nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't.'_

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><p><em>"Sakura, wait!"<em>

_"Sasuke, that's not me!"_

_"You bastard! What did you do to my brother?!"_

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><p>"Yo! Whatcha sleeping there for?"<p>

Sasuke raised his eyelids, the memories of sleep fading from his mind as the only Kumo ninja he would consider trusting sat down on the other side of the booth he had chosen for his evening '_off'_'.

He wasn't eating or drinking anything, but he was at a ninja restaurant, and as long as he bought something, he got to sit down and listen in to the gossip and the circulating rumours. He may be off duty for the night, but he still had a sinking feeling that told him to absorb as much information as he could on the exams.

It was taking too much effort not to break into the arena, but Chōji would never forgive him if he did that. Still... Something was _off_. The Mizukage still couldn't find any information on Chōji despite the attempts of her underlings to find it.

He needed information on possible assassins, too. There were too many people it could have been - was a suspect; and so were the Mizukage and the Tsuchikage (for the sake of habit, if nothing else).The only Kage he couldn't think to have a motive was the Kazekage. One of the other three had something do with the attempt on Minato's life, but...

There were too many loose ends, and so far he hadn't had any luck eavesdropping.

"I wasn't sleeping. Just remembering something. Are you really going to drink that whole bottle?" he asked Killer Bee, pointing at a large bottle of sake as the man took the seat opposite him.

"Won't harm me none, yo. Jinchūriki. I don't get alcohol sickly, bakayarō, konoyarō," the blonde shrugged, opening the bottle and pouring himself a generous saucer.

After twenty minutes and another bottle of sake with no notable effects, Sasuke was forced to agree. He didn't altogether trust the man, but the man was a jinchūriki, and having seen a true Tailed Beast, he could at the very least hold some respect for such persons. Even if they were Kumo ninjas.

"I heard something on the way over from a Kirigakure ninja that I found strange - about the teams participating in the exams..." Killer Bee ventured carefully.

"Oh?"

"There's an extra team."

Sasuke blood froze. An extra team? That was... Teams were submitted to the host village weeks in advance. Anyone who tried to enter after that were bared, and told to wait another six months. There _couldn't_ be an extra team.

"Who does the extra team belong to?" he asked, lead lining his stomach once more.

"Kirigakure," Killer Bee replied an equal frown on his face.

Sasuke absorbed that for a moment, and then fished his wallet out of his pocket, leaving some money behind for his own untouched bottle of sake. All of a sudden he desperately wanted to get back to work.

* * *

><p>Naruko held her breath silently as she swiped a little bit of blood over the latch on her bow; the arrow she wanted appeared in her fingers silently, and she drew it back, slowly and carefully flooding her chakra into the arrow head, the seals carved into it.<p>

Aiming for the group of Kirigakure ninja's surrounding her teammate, she shot the arrow towards one of Lee's attackers. It sank into the back of his head, and then the forest clearing was deafened with the sound of an explosion.

Darting into the pandemonium, she wrought a mild shield over herself with her fire chakra, then summoned the chakra she needed for the Hiraishin, and focused on Lee. Within a blink of an eye she had grabbed onto him, and then she propelled them in another blink back to the edge of the forest.

"Are you all right?" she asked, flicking some green chakra over a small burn on Lee's face as he regained his bearings.

"No, no I'm definitely not all right. Something's wrong here, something's really, really _wrong_ Naruko... Chōji-"

"I know, I have no idea where he is, either. His chakra just... It's like he died or something, but that can't be _it_. Even then we'd be able to sense it. I'm going to charge my fire up with a bit of lightning - do you think you can give it a boost? It'll get rid of the rest of them," she asked, nodding towards the reasonably large group that hadn't been blown to pieces with her blasting arrow.

"No, Naruko, listen Chōji's been -! I think he's been... They've put an illusion on him or something - they must _have_, he'd cut off his own head _before_..."

Naruko stared at Lee in wary confusion.

"What do you -?"

"He's working with _them_ Naruko! He's working with the Kumo and Kirigakure ninjas to kill us, kill _you!_"

"_What_? No, that's _impossible_! Chōji would-"

"-would never do anything like that? Is that what you were going to say?"

Naruko froze, then turned and watched with horror as one of the survivors came into clear view out of the smoking trees. His hammer tight in his fist, the sick smirk on Chōji's face was... Wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. It wasn't -

Faster than she thought possible from the brown-haired boy, he slammed his hammer down to the earth, sending in a horde of spikes in a line towards her. Boosting her legs with wind chakra, she quickly leapt up onto one of the growing spikes, before turning and flipping in mid-air to land back on safe ground.

A fireball seared in her direction, and it was only a rapid one of her own, causing another explosion on contact, that kept it from hitting her.

"Naruko!"

In a twist of her own rescue earlier, Lee caught her when the force of the second explosion sent her careening towards the trees at a pace that would certainly have broken something. As she regained her footing, so too did -

"Come on, I know you're better than that Naruko," Chōji complained, his voice calling mockingly somewhere from the other side of the smoke.

"What -?"

_What was going on?_

Chōji didn't look like that, but that was what she was seeing. Chōji, sweet, kind Chōji who wouldn't hurt even a bug given the choice... He looked like _Karui_ - he had the same sick desire and enjoyment on his face, one that only came from hurting people and messing their heads up.

That wasn't Chōji. That definitely was not Chōji! There was no way-

Her thought was cut off by a horde of flaming earthen rocks hurting rapidly towards them, and all she could do was stare at them in shock and disbelief. Lee hand-forced her to duck flat against the water with him as he pulled it into a thick watery shield, absorbing the flaming attack till only warm mud remained.

"Naruko! We have to run!" Lee roared.

Chōji could have killed her... Chōji was trying to... _No_! No, no, no, no, _no_! That was _impossible_! But -

Chōji swung his hammer, and survival instinct took over.

Immediatley taking up to the branches, to slightly safer territory, she was so caught up with running that she was almost killed by a mass of flying kunai. Lee saved her butt by grabbing her arm and pulling her behind the trunk of one of the trees.

The thud of metal as it lodged itself in the bark was sickening, but Naruko did not stop to consider who might be throwing it - they just needed to get out. Pulling out a handmade ink-refilling brush from her sealing kit, she scribbled a few seals over Lee's forehead.

Normally she wouldn't bother, but she hadn't quite grasped new Hiraishin just yet. Heck, it was only thanks to Hinata that she'd figured out what part of her chakra she had been missing. She'd only used it a few times since the fight, but...

"Start up a lightning charge, send it up through the trees!" an awfully familiar voice commanded.

Naruto almost choked at the unpleasant, chilling tone in Chōji's voice, but she focused on the seals - they would keep Lee in working condition in case she buggered up transporting the two of them away. It was a risk, but -

Focusing her chakra, she imagined the cave she had rested at previously, and then they spun through the air as one of Chōji's fireballs hurled towards them.

Landing with a thud on the cave floor, Naruko darted towards the front of the cave, dunking her head beneath the churning waters of the waterfall as she emptied her stomach.

* * *

><p>"An extra team? Kirigakure?" Minato asked, frowning in contemplation as Sasuke reported his findings.<p>

"From what I gathered, I don't trust the information, though. I did investigate, and it makes sense since Kirigakure are the hosts, but that's exactly why I _don't_ trust it," Sasuke replied as the other Kages took their seats across the table.

"Indeed, it is a little too convenient - especially with all the candidates except those of Kirigakure disappearing inside the arena..." Minato muttered, frowning as took his place at his own side of the circular table.

Aside from Chōji, several more genin from Iwagakure and Sunagakure had vanished from the exam monitoring technique in the time since Sasuke had returned from his day off. No bodies, no blood, no passes, nothing. They were just - gone.

The meeting started once more, and while many of the subjects were on boring things Sasuke had no interest in (trade was a big one, apparently), the conversation soon turned back to 's plight. Then to the subject of rogue ninjas. Then back to the Chūnin Exams. Then to again.

"What are the realistic chances of assuaging the villagers of Kumogakure in this matter?" the Kazekage asked critically.

"Almost non-existent. The ninjas understand to an extent, but they'd still rather stage a coup than ignore what's happened completely. They want a war, and by the time the next village council meeting comes around, it'll be happening" said glumly.

"Your successor?" the Mizukage asked curiously.

"I have no idea - no-one seems to be completely unified behind one person yet, but my bet would be on Karui's brother, or possibly Samui. They're both skilled enough if they step up on their training, as they have done already," grumbled, his indecision apparent.

"Perhaps we should focus more on how to stop this before it gets out of hand? That is the purpose of this council - to aid each other so things like wars and insurrections don't happen. What if you and Minato publicly announce your... _unique_ circumstances? Will that at least pacify the population?" Mifune - the neutral leader of the meeting - suggested before an argument could break out - again. Sasuke had grown to greatly respect the old man's patience.

But the tense atmosphere in the room was not to be ignored either; all the Kages could sense the tiny traces of chakra in the room, sense the underhanded play, but who was the one making it?

And was the person making it the person who had attempted to kill Naruko's father? Sasuke couldn't be sure, but he had a very strong hunch they were related, along with all the other oddities of those particular exams.

The Mizukage's strange behaviour, the odd number of teams from Kirigakure, the disappearance of genin (including Chōji) from within the arena, the surge of chakra in the last meeting, the assassination attempt, and the uprisings in Kumogakure...

There was _no way_ all of it was coincidence. But what tied it all together? Until something else incriminating occurred, there was no way to make sense of it all.

Then again, if the shouting match that had been raging around his ears since Mifune's suggestion was anything to go by, then it might just be a case of the gods being the proverbial pain in the backside and making his life difficult for the fun of it. Sasuke really wouldn't put it past them.

"...can't possibly be thinking straight! Executing the leaders of the revolters will just be proving their point, Ōnoki!"

"And you would reveal that the Kages of two villages share blood instead, Mei? Use your brain, woman! That would just cause _mass panic_, and not just for Fire or Lightning Country! Fire Country is the mass producer of arable crops in the whole continent! If war breaks out, then people go hungry, and hungry people revolt! Your people would suffer, too!"

"Forget that, think of the money it would take to weed out the Cheif conspirators! The Daimyō of Lightning is already breathing down my neck! If I ask him for more funding to weed out conspirators, I might as well take my hat off anyway!" groaned, massing his forehead between his thumb and forefinger.

"What makes you think he isn't one of the conspirators? It has been known to happen," Minato suggested.

Sasuke had few times felt like punching his Hokage in the face, but that was one of them. Couldn't he at least _not_ make things worse?

"I'm glad to see that _one_ of us is thinking straight," the Kazekage sniffed wearily.

Minato shot him an equally weary and commiserating grin as the other three continued to argue, and then the chakra that was lingering through the room spiked, and several things happened, all of them chaotic.

The Mizukage suddenly collapsed, and then one of her guards, the boy with glasses and ear protectors that Neji's kunoichi had been so taken with surged forward, hurling bomb-tagged shuriken around the room before drawing his sword on the two ANBU who blocked his path towards Minato.

His large, double-handled sword was flaring with chakra, and it took all of Sasuke's strength to block the attack with his own katana. Somehow, he managed to parry the blow, and as more fell on him, he began to feel like he was in a trap.

He was right. All of a sudden, the young boy came to his senses, and stumbled to the floor. Realising the nature of the technique at work, Sasuke whirled around too late to catch Darui. His black lightning struck Minato, and everything turned black.

* * *

><p><em>"Sakura! Wait!" Sasuke yelled after his pink-haired teammate as she raced ahead, flitting through the branches of the mangrove trees like a squirrel.<em>

_Stupid Itachi! Why did he have to say something so stupid? Catching up with the pink-haired girl, the ten year-old slowed his pace and finally managed to catch his breath before turning a raised eyebrow at his teammate._

_"Are you planning on running away every time he says something stupid?" he asked; Sakura turned red, then he saw the tears in the corners of her eyes._

_"But it's true! I'm useless! You two are the prodigies! All I can do is patch ups scratches and break rocks! You've been doing all the work since we got here and -"_

_"And Itachi's sense of direction is worse than mine. If you hadn't been keeping an eye on where we were going, we would have been wandering in circles! And you kept track of which plants were poisonous," Sasuke corrected._

_Inside he was cursing his brother and his stupid ego. And his insensitive comments. He really didn't understand why his brother felt the need to torment their teammate so much. All right, she was loud, a bit too happy sometimes, and wasn't the strongest kunoichi in the graduating class, but she was still an early graduate like them! And she was nice enough. For a girl._

_"Why does he hate me so much? Every time I try and impress him, try to carry my weight, he just finds something else to complain about..." Sakura asked, finally stopping the tears (he really wasn't good with tears). _

_"It's not just you - he complains about me when we get home. Last night he was complaining because about my lightning element. It's what he does. I think he's trying to be constructive, but he comes off as an arsehole instead," Sasuke shrugged, turning and heading back through the trees towards where he had left Itachi._

_Sakura giggled._

_"I should tell your mother I heard you swear!" she smirked._

_Sasuke glared at her, about to give an irritated retort. When the snap of a twig caught both their ears; turning his back immediatley to Sakura's, he pulled a pair of kunai from his pouch, red eyes swirling inspectivley around the mangrove trees surrounding them._

_He could feel Sakura charging her fists and feet behind him; the oppressive atmosphere of being watched was already heavy around them, but there didn't seem to be anyone nearby._

_"You're a little jumpy, aren't you?"_

_Sasuke almost relaxed at the sound of the voice; Itachi quickly dropped down from the tree branches above them, his sandals hitting the water they stood on with only a mild splash._

_"This place is creepy - I don't like these trees. They're slippery, I can't get a good grip on them," Sasuke shrugged, recognising the feel of his brother's chakra immediately._

_"I told you to take your sandals with the extra grip, but you never -"_

_Itachi was cut off as Sakura's foot collided with his jaw, sending him flying back into one of the trees, before falling into the water. Sasuke stared at her, wondering if this was the week from hell Ibiki had warned him and his brother about. He'd never seen her get so mad so quickly like that before. Then again, Itachi hadn't been very tactful about his opinion of her..._

_The snarl that came from Itachi's lips made him revise that notion however, and he realised why Sakura was acting so hostile. His fingers quickly went back to his kunai pouch._

_"Don't you take a step closer to us unless you can tell us the keyword we agreed upon at the start of the exams," she warned._

_"We're really going to go through with this? Do you even realise how easy it would be to figure it out?" Itachi groaned._

_Sasuke hurled the exploding tag decorated kunai with a nice jolt of his fire chakra towards Itachi, before forming his handsigns for the fireball technique. Itachi had already dodged he attack, but it would give Sakura time to sneak up on the back of the imposter as her Exploding Clone helped with the distraction._

_Letting the clone dart ahead, Sasuke waited till the second version of Sakura was inches away from landing a fist into Itachi's gut before hurling his fireball towards her. The explosion was huge, and as he leapt backwards to avoid it, so did the imposter._

_Sakura lunched herself from the canopy, her fist landing squarely on the fake's jaw._

_"Like Itachi would ever listen to one of my ideas!" she yelled, releasing all her chakra along with a good portion of her own, notable physical strength. The imposter disappeared in a flash of smoke, and Sasuke whirled around, bringing a kunai up to block Itachi's short tantō blade._

_He managed to knock the blade aside, but the physical blows he parried instead were indeed difficult. A blow was made for his head, and blocking that his gut was open. Dodging a kick to his stomach by flipping over Itachi's shoulder, dodging another punch, he plonked a second with his arm, and landed a foot on his fake-brother's gut._

_Itachi flew towards Sakura, who continued the barrage with her enhanced strength before weaving rapid handsigns as Itachi fell back towards the water surface._

_"Doton: Jiban Tejō!"_

_Thick rocks, summoned by her chakra, grew from beneath the waters surface, binding themselves around Itachi's wrists and ankles as well as conforming a little around his torso. Sasuke simply thanked the Gods Itachi was slightly weaker in physical combat than he and Sakura were thanks to his not-so-inner pacifist._

_"Have you got him?" Sasuke asked cautiously._

_Sakura nodded, then approached the trapped boy with wary anger, her hands taking on a green glow._

_"It could be poison, or one of the plants, or some unpurified water in his bloodstream," she explained, running her hands over Itachi's shoulders and neck before settling on the crown of his head with a contemplative expression._

_"And is it?" Sasuke asked, taking a few steps closer to watch her work with his sharingan - who knew when he might need it in the future?_

_"I don't think so, but there's something... If I can just -"_

_"Sasuke, that's not me!"_

_Sasuke turned, startled by the same voice as the girl beside him, and caught sight of another pink-haired girl, although one thoroughly more battered, bruised, and with messily cropped hair that the long-haired girl beside him wouldn't have been caught dead with._

_Turning his head was the biggest mistake of his life. The fangs sunk into his neck with so much force that Sasuke was certain they might snap it._

_"You bastard! What did you do to my brother!"_

_Seconds later his brother's foot connected with the face of whoever had been masquerading as Sakura, launching her (or was it a 'him'?) through the air towards the real Sakura._

_With a well-timed, enhanced kick to the gut, she sent her impersonator crashing through several trees as Itachi pulled his arm around his shoulders and started leaping through the branches in the opposite direction._

_Sasuke didn't see any of it too clearly; all he could feel was pain. All over. His eyes were boiling, his blood was burning, his muscles were charred, his bones were breaking - everything felt like it was dying inside him._

_His head was screaming; something was attacking it, from the inside out. He didn't even know if he had been poisoned. He might have been - they were at a Kirigakure arena, after all - but he didn't know. He didn't care. He just wanted for the pain to stop..._

_He just wanted to..._

_"Sasuke!"_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Yaaaay, chapter 26 finished. Things are happening a bit more now. <em>**

**_Don't think the fight scenes were as much of a FAILURE this time (to clarify, I consider all my fight-scenes a failure because I can't write fighting for crap). Not quite as long as usual but I felt this was a good place to leave it hanging on a cliff (me like cliffhangers XD)._**

**_A few people have asked when the SasukeNaruko is really going to start... Soon *EvilGrin* Soon, I needs to bubble up though. And I need to work out a few more aggravations/foundations for Sasuke. _**

**_Sasuke especially - he has much more reason to be hindered by morals than Naruko after all XD_**

**_Hope you liked the chapter :)  
><em>****_Nat.  
><em>****_xxx_**

* * *

><p>Thanks to Vermouth for Beta'ing :)<p> 


	27. Problems: Part III

**Stupid Sensei  
>サスケ <strong>**& ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty Seven - -<br>Problems ~ Part III**

* * *

><p><em>'...And contrariwise, what it is it wouldn't be,<br>and what it wouldn't be, it would, you see?'_

* * *

><p>"Sasuke, are you all right?"<p>

Sasuke fought down the severe urge to tell his mother to get lost. It wasn't like she was deliberately trying to annoy him. He knew that. She was just worried about him. Like Itachi and his dad were. Gods of Fire, even _he_ was worried about him.

It still made him want to scream every time someone asked him _'Are you all right?'_. Of course he _wasn't_ all right! He'd been attacked by some freak during the chūnin exams and nearly killed his teammates before they managed to literally knock some sense back into him. He didn't remember what had happened, so Sakura told him.

_'You just... You looked like a monster! You just wanted to kill us - You weren't you anymore. You looked different, too...'_ she'd said.

When he asked her what _'looked different'_ implied, she deigned not to answer. Sasuke took that to mean his physical changes had been moderately grotesque. As if to add to his problems, he kept having bad sleep and, because of it, his chakra control was shot to pieces.

Every single night, he felt like someone was whispering in his ear; murmuring something, nagging at him to do something, insisting on guiding his thoughts towards some of the more unpleasant corners of his mind.

Like how Itachi was _always_ going to be better than him in everything, that Sakura was _never_ going to look at him with Itachi around, that his abilities were severely stunted by _Uchiha_ traditions, that he was probably going _insane_…

His mother had even found him sleepwalking once, towards the training ground with a katana from off the tokonoma. He'd started training with it, and apparently he'd been missing out on an extension of himself without it - but _still_, who picked up a sword in their _sleep_ and went off to train with it?

Sasuke knew that his team and family had every right to be worried about him. He was, too. But did they have to keep _asking_ all the time?

"I'm fine - why don't you try asking again tomorrow instead of every _two minutes_? You might get a different answer," Sasuke snarled at his mother before slamming the door behind him and heading out to one of the training grounds.

He deliberately chose it because it was a Senju training ground. He was allowed there, but there was still a little bit of clan rivalry between the Senju and his own, so most of his clan members wouldn't bother looking for him there.

Finally alone with his thoughts, he started the tree-climbing exercise. He figured the first place he needed to start would be his chakra control: it had never been exceedingly brilliant, even for an early graduate, so this was a good opportunity to improve on the original standard.

After around three hours' worth of work, he was halfway back to his former standard. Whatever was going on since that freak had bitten him (Tsunade still didn't know what the bite had done), it was harder to work around than he had previously imagined.

Realising his chakra was about to give out, he landed safely back down on the ground, and leant back against the tree trunk to catch his breath. He could still hear it, the murmuring. It was fine when he was concentrating on something, but its incessancy was unbearable in any other situation.

He couldn't make out what the words were, but it was constant. And all of a sudden it had flared up even worse than usual. The snap of a twig had him hurling a kunai towards one of the bushes before he even knew he'd thrown it.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

In answer he got a sharp blow to the base of his skull, and he sank into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Blinking awake, Sasuke felt cold, but soon figured out that was because he didn't have any clothes on. He was lying naked as a baby on a slab of concrete. Or metal. He was too dazed to tell.<p>

Glancing around, he realised he was manacled to the slab, had some sort of gag stuffed in his mouth behind what felt like an exploding tag, and that there were various other people in similar states chained to the walls.

Sasuke tried not to dwell on the ones who were obviously dead. He recognised one girl with purple hair, who just kept crying soundlessly, white as a sheet; and one other boy with brown hair. He was ferociously writhing against his restraints.

"Oh, good, you've joined us, Sasuke. I'm glad you woke up in time. It's always much more insightful seeing a conscious physical reaction to my tests."

Sasuke stared at Orochimaru as he cleaned what looked suspiciously like a scalpel with a cloth. He'd heard a few rumours about people going missing, _but_...! He was the _Third Hokage's_ student! He'd helped Tsunade when she'd been brought back to Konoha in a jumpy, neurotic mess only weeks ago...

_Fucking backstabbing two-faced betraying son of a bitch!_

"Don't look at me like that, Sasuke - half of today's medical techniques come from human experimentation. You should be honoured to be a part of my research," the man said with a roll of his eyes.

Sasuke screamed when the chakra-infused blade cut into his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Jolting awake, Sasuke's attempt to escape was met by Sakura forcing him back into the bed.<p>

"Sasuke, calm down! You're in -"

"I know where I am! It's that _bastard_! It's _him_! He's got _something_ to do with all this! I can fucking _smell_ it!" Sasuke bellowed in protest. Sakura's hands dropped and he stopped struggling.

"Sasuke, stop it before I knock you unconscious again!" Sakura snapped.

Sasuke breathed, and then glanced at his surroundings. Hospital. _Ugh_. Dead muscles. Cursed seal consequences. Nothing unusual. What had...? Oh... _Crap_. Hokage. Darui. _Fuck._

"Sakura, _what_ happened to the Hokage?" he asked, a bit of panic coming back.

Sakura grimaced.

"He's alive" she replied, but Sasuke could hear the silent _'for now'_ added to her words.

He'd seen Darui's Black Lightning technique before. Even the ones who survived first contact with it didn't always make it. Fuck, _shit,_ crap, what should he say to Naruko? Something told him _'Hey, well done on passing. By the way, your dad was killed during the test'_ wouldn't go down very well. Not that the man was dead yet. But it was a possibility.

Either way, things were going rather wrong, and they needed to be fixed. _Immediately_. His instincts weren't normally something he paid an obscene amount of attention to, but in that precise moment they were screaming at him to go find his team.

He wasn't a negotiator - he was more likely to cause another incident than solve one. He would confront the problem head on, and that meant finding the snake bastard before he found his team. That was only the first half of his attack.

The second half would be Naruko. Sasuke had no idea about her father, but he was not going to let that psychopath anywhere near her - anywhere his team, rather.

He knew it was him. He didn't know how, but something just stank of Orochimaru. It was the only way any of the random incidents made sense. It wasn't as if Orochimaru made a habit of making sense to anyone but himself.

"You need to get me into the exams. That bastard is hiding in the arena, somehow," he said to Sakura, with no allowance for doctor-fussing in his tone.

"Him? You mean... You think this is _Orochimaru?_" she asked, a tone of fear tainting her words as she mixed up a sachet of his tea in a cup and set a nearby kettle to boil.

Sasuke shrugged, stretching and cracking his joints, taking the tea Sakura handed him with mild suspicion, but drinking it all the same.

"All that switching around in the council room? It honestly wouldn't surprise me. He'd do something like that just for the sake of entertainment. What have I missed?" Sasuke asked, trying not to shrug away from Sakura's worried examinations.

"Well, the Council is in chaos; one of the other ANBU contacted Homura-sama and Koharu-sama in your stead and they were predictably furious. They're on the verge of declaring war on Kirigakure and Kumogakure. Of course, Kumo and Kiri are just as confused as we are. Darui and Chōjurō are being interrogated... Sasuke, are you _sure_ you aren't just being paranoid? _Where_ would Orochimaru even fit into this?"

Sasuke snorted at Sakura's question, quickly getting up and pulling on his shirt once she had finished her check-up.

"Anywhere. The man can shed his own skin. Temporarily possessing people wouldn't be difficult. The Yamanaka do it every day," he shrugged, hunting around for his sword, kunai pouch, and holster.

"Sasuke, you're not _seriously_ considering this, are you? There's _no way_ to prove that!" Sakura persisted, shaking her head.

"That's _exactly_ why I need to get inside that arena - if I'm right he's going to target my team, Sakura. I have faith in them, I _really_ do, but against _Orochimaru_? I don't have enough faith in _me_ against him to even consider setting them against him," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura's face took on a contemplative expression, and then she sighed in defeat.

"Fine, but for gods' sakes, don't do anything reckless - one wrong move now and we'll have a three-way war on our hands, Sasuke."

As he sipped at his tea, Sasuke could only wish she wasn't right.

* * *

><p>"He attacked you? But Chōji -"<p>

"It _wasn't_ Chōji! _Something's_ happened to him, he's been... Possessed - controlled by someone!"

Naruko was silent as Lee argued with Ino, Shikamaru snoring beside her, and Hinata slumped against the wall of the cave with her own teammates across from them. The other graduates from her year were also scattered around the waterfall-hidden hideout.

After managing to get herself back under control, she and Lee had taken turns to go foraging for safe supplies of food, only to find other Konoha ninjas suffering from the same attacks. Ino and Tenten had teamed up, along with their teammates in order to try and fight off the horde attacking them.

That was how Naruko had found them before Chōji appeared, and she had to use the Hiraishin again. A few hours later, Lee had shown up with Hinata, Sora, and Idate. As far as anyone could make out, they were the only Konoha ninjas left in the entire exam.

Hinata's team had been working tentatively together with another two teams after Naruko had finished their fight. One was another Konoha team, and the other was a Sunagakure team. The Kirigakure team had blatantly informed the Suna team that they were free to go. The other team had died before Lee could intervene.

"Look, we can't argue about this now! Most of us need healing, and all of us need rest - we'll never get out of here alive if we don't recharge," Shikamaru interrupted as yet another argument threatened to break out.

The faces showed reluctant agreement, and Naruko quickly volunteered for the first watch, whereas Hinata close the second. She'd never get to sleep, but it would give her the time she needed to process the whole mess.

Hinata's pale eyes followed her as she headed to the mouth of the cave until the waterfall that disguised the entrance from others, but Naruko ignored her gaze.

So Naruko had shamed Hinata in front of her father twice now - _big deal_. Hinata had tried to fake their end of year exams to get a title to impress him. She hadn't been satisfied with the fact their illusions teacher had been messing up her work, she'd had to go and meddle with it too, just to be on the safe side!

Maybe it was petty to hold onto a grudge like that, but Hinata was right. Her father had already acknowledged her - somewhat. Back then, Naruko hadn't had that luxury.

Hence the public complaint that had shamed Hinata in the eyes of her father after Naruko had caught her meddling in the teachers' office. Hinata had been underhanded when Naruko would have been happy to simply let bygones be bygones over the illusions' thing.

Hinata hadn't realised that Naruko knew how to be underhanded, too. Her father had been paying a bit more attention to her after that, so one complaint to him during the evening meal, and a public complaint had followed.

It was either that, or fail to live up to her father's expectations, fail to deserve the attention she'd been craving from him. Naruko had chosen to be underhanded. She didn't regret it, but she did wish Hinata wouldn't hold a grudge so long too.

Whoever had taken over Chōji was really strong - those kind of techniques were always really difficult. They would have to work together to help him, when they figured out how to do that, but would Hinata be able to swallow her pride? Would _she?_

Turning her head away from unpleasant thoughts, Naruko turned her attention to her ears, and listened to the noises beyond the roar of the waterfall for the sound of footsteps.

* * *

><p>The next morning came by slowly.<p>

Naruko was awake for three watch changes. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Ino all followed after her to keep an eye on the encampment for the night, but after her own had ended, Naruko did not sleep well at all.

Chōji was constantly on her mind - or more specifically, how to fix him. Chōji was not a spy, that much they all knew. That left a technique of some kind, and there were several possibilities. Too many.

It was also abundantly clear that what or whoever had changed Chōji was very, very dangerous. Without more information, they wouldn't be able to do anything, but getting more information would be suicide unless they had some sort of plan...

It was with very heavy hearts that the group of Konoha ninjas set up in a circle over their breakfast rations of dry-food bars, safe-tested berries, and purified water.

"I was thinking this over last night, and I think it's fairly obvious that some sort of plot is going on here, part of it being what happened with Chōji yesterday..." Shikamaru started, giving his berries a mildly suspicious look before popping some in his mouth after watching Ino morosely chewing on her own.

"That's obvious - this is the first chūnin exam Kirigakure has had for years. Someone was bound to mess it up - but is it Kiri, Kumo, or Iwa? Kumo and Iwa hate us, which would explain why it's only us being targeted," Kiba suggested.

"Yeah, and Kiri shinobi have never cared about anyone but themselves. I wouldn't put it past them to ally themselves with one, then turn on them once were out of the way," Sora agreed.

"But why _Chōji_?" Tenten asked from beside Naruko.

Naruko couldn't imagine what Tenten was going through. She didn't know how much Tenten liked Chōji, or how much he liked her, but the fact was that they were dating.

"Because he's _her_ teammate - if it's Kumo, then it's obvious why they hate us," Hinata scoffed. Naruko didn't bother glaring at her. She had a point.

"I don't think it's any of them," Ino disagreed, getting several questioning looks for the comment. "Just think about it! If Shikamaru's right, and someone _is_ plotting something, then I doubt it's one of the Five Elemental Nations. None of them are really in position for a war at the moment, but it wouldn't be that hard for someone else to start one," she explained, chaffing a thumbnail thoughtfully.

"Ino's right - from what I heard before the exams, Kumo is on the brink of civil war right now. The Raikage is on the verge of being deposed. Along with the rebuilding still to do, they aren't in a position to be fighting anyone, manpower or not..." Lee muttered, doubt quickly coming into his voice on Kumo's dubious current standings.

"It's the same with Kirigakure - they've only just left a management mix-up, and with those two struggling to make ends meet, Iwa isn't in much risk of losing work since Suna is focusing on trade," Sai added.

"But if that's the case, then who's responsible? It's got to be someone with a grudge against Konoha and her dad," Idate asked, nodding towards Naruko from his watch post at the cave mouth.

There was a pause of thought throughout the cavern, and Shino even brought out a bedraggled copy of the Konoha blacklist for reference. Names were shot back and forth, but even as they were fired around the room, none of them sounded right.

"What about Orochimaru?" Hinata asked.

A chilling silence rang through the cave; it was the kind of silence that only occurred when dreadful sense was made of an unpleasant situation.

"Well, he's insane enough to try, that's for certain..." Kiba muttered from Naruko's other side.

Naruko couldn't help but agree. Human experimentation was just the first thing that had marked his banishment from Konoha. Orochimaru's file was one of the few she never, ever found in her father's office - at least, not where she could break into it. That didn't really bode well for the contents.

"And the capability - he's a Sannin. If anyone could pull it off, he could...But _why_? It's not like he even cares what anyone does. He's just nuts..." Tenten bemoaned.

"Doesn't explain why the only village not attacking us is Suna, though," Hinata backtracked.

That of course brought them back to square one.

"Naruko, has your dad told you anything about what's been happening in Kumogakure? What I mean is, did the uprisings there start very suddenly, or did they build gradually?" Shikamaru asked.

He had been silent for some time, hands clasped in front of him as he stared off deep in his own thoughts, and adding his voice to the conversation again had garnered the attention of the whole group.

"He didn't know that much, but we didn't hear rumours till a couple of months before the exams started. Even if the Raikage was controlling information, that's still a bit... late" Naruko replied, quickly catching onto Shikamaru's train of thought.

"...Then it may well be him after all. Orochimaru is evil insanity incarnate, but he isn't stupid, and he has a very large number of followers that aren't incapable of pulling the wool over our eyes," the boy muttered, sounding rather irritated.

"Does it really matter who's doing it? Why don't we just focus on bringing Chōji back to his senses?" Ino asked.

Naruko had thought of that last night, and there was a seal that would work perfectly. The design of the seal adapted it to the specific subset of possession technique it was used against. The only problem was getting close enough to Chōji to place it on him.

As long as that... _thing_ was running around inside him, they'd never get close. Especially not with three villages hunting them down at his bidding. Not unless they tried something really drastic. The kind of drastic Sasuke would yell at them for three hours straight.

"That depends on how quickly you want to get killed. With as little information as we have, there is a limited number of techniques we can use. I know one, but I wouldn't get close to him for long enough," Naruko replied, pulling her knees up to her chest.

She really didn't know what to do. And she didn't like it at all. She was still having trouble believing that Chōji was in such a position. It was _Chōji_ - the boy who wouldn't kill a fly if he could avoid it!

He was way to kind to deserve that! She shuddered to think what would happen if they did manage to rescue him. The longer he was being possessed, the worse he would be after waking up. Provided he woke up at all. Some people didn't, and Chōji didn't have a fox demon to protect his mind.

"What kind of technique is it?" Kiba asked her curiously.

"It's a sealing technique. It expulses foreign objects from containers. I was doing some research on mine, and I came across it in an report of how they extracted the Kyuubi from Great-Grandma Mito. It would work no problem, if I had the time to set it."

"How long does it take?" Ino asked.

"About five minutes. Two, if I rush it. He'd never sit still long enough for me to use it though, even with all of us attacking. Not when he's got numbers on his side," Naruko replied wearily, leaning onto Kiba's shoulder.

He put an arm round her shoulders, and she didn't shrug it away. It felt kind of nice to close her eyes for a moment while the others blabbered. It wasn't that she didn't want to help Chōji, but she didn't know how.

"...Yes, we can. We can if we do what Sensei told us to do before we left Konoha," Lee said suddenly.

Naruko stared at him in confusion, then her eyes widened as the conversation they'd had as she healed and ogled their teacher floated back from her memory. With it she decided something about Lee once and for all.

He was absolutely _insane_.

* * *

><p><em><strong>My sincerest apologies for the late update, I can't really give any excuses for this long a wait :( To leave things simple, college has been pretty stressful for the last few months, and I've been off sick on and off since before christmas, and now i have a bronchial problem because of all the bugs ive been catching -_- I've actually started a plague in my class...<strong>_

_**I hope this update makes up for the long wait - I will try to get around to updating again soon, but as I said, college is very stressing at the moment. Hoping to get some time on the next chapter soon, but no promises. I do intend to finish this story however. :) Promise.**_

_**Nat**_  
><em><strong>xxx<strong>_


	28. Problems: Part IV

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ ****& ****ナルコ****  
><strong>

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><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty Eight - -<strong>

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><p><em>'To stand outside your virtue, no one can ever<br>hurt you - or so they say; h__er name is Alice.'__  
><em>

* * *

><p>After the strange, unnervingly snake-like man had rooted his consciousness inside him and taken over, Chōji Akimichi had reacted in several different ways.<p>

At first he had panicked, and resisted the intrusion to his mind in all the ways his blonde Yamanaka cousin had warned him about, and with all the mental strength he had come to admire from his teammates.

Unfortunately, it had simply made things worse – struggling simply made Orochimaru's grip on his consciousness all the stronger. The more he struggled, the more paranoid the man became, and with increased paranoia came an increased mental security around his own mind, and the restraints on Chōji's.

And so, Chōji had stopped struggling, and had started to meditate, calming himself with the thoughts of his teammates. With any luck, they would already be thinking of a way to help him. Naruko and Lee were smarter than he was – he was sure they would think of something.

Then he would have the chance to smash Orochimaru's face with his hammer. As he meditated, trying to think of a way to escape himself anyway, thoughts that were not his own strayed into Chōji's mind.

The first flash was a glance at his own team, in particular Sasuke, in the Hokage's office. Going by the love struck expression on himself and Lee, and the absence of Naruko, Chōji realised he was seeing himself in a memory… from Karui's eyes.

Then there were other things he didn't recognise before arriving at something he did; he was watching one of the Raikage's guards lunging for Naruko's father. The room looked like a council room, and judging by the faces present, it was a view from the Mizukage's eyes.

This was something all the flashes he had seen had in common – they were always looking at something from someone else's eyes, and in this knowledge, this strange link into Orochimaru's foul mind, Chōji found a very important silver lining.

Chōji was not a Yamamnaka, but he had their blood through from past ancestors, and the help of his cousin had greatly improved his mental techniques (or resistance of them) in comparison to other members of his clan.

He had very good guards around himself, but for someone so paranoid, Orochimaru did not seem to be very careful about their structure. There were holes in his barriers once Chōji started looking for them, and though he was no Yamanaka, he was not incompetent.

Secretly, carefully, Chōji took to meditating closely and quietly by those holes, and he discovered a great deal of information that made him go pale. He did not stop listening however, because in spite of his predicament, Chōji had a chance to see into the mind of the enemy.

He trusted his teammates, so while they figured out how to help him escape Orochimaru, Chōji would take note of Orochimaru's plans, and just maybe find a way to stop them.

* * *

><p>"So? What's this great idea of yours Lee?" Naruko asked warily.<p>

"You heard me" Lee shrugged.

"Yes, I did, I was just hoping I had heard you wrong…" Naruko sighed. "You're going to have to explain a little more though – how is _killing_ our team-mate going to _help_ him?" she asked.

There was instant pandemonium from the other gathered Genin, but Lee put his hand up, and they slowly quietened so he could explain whatever insane idea he had going.

"It's simple," he shrugged. "We all try to land a wounding blow on Chōji while he's possessed. That will down him long enough for Naruto to put her seal on him and eject the bastard possessing him. Then we _all_ pitch in the medic techniques and bring Chōji back before he bleeds to death."

"That's the worst idea I've ever heard!" Ino bemoaned.

"In Lee's defence, Sasuke-sensei was the one who came up with it…" Naruko said wearily, remembering the conversation at their team training ground before the exams.

"I ask again, you like him… _why?_" Kiba asked, in a low tone only for her ears to hear.

Naruko didn't particularly have an answer herself, at the moment so she just shrugged. Hinata had brought up something that much as she hated to admit it, she probably should think about.

Her dad hadn't been a really prevalent figure in her life until Kumo had abducted her. A lot of the reasons she had once crushed on Sasuke over were because of that, and even to the girl lusting after her fifteen-years-older teacher, that was a bit… weird.

Sasuke was important to her, of that she didn't doubt, and he was definitely aging well (probably too well) but Hinata had given her something to think about. She needed to be sure before she tried to seduce him any more than she (unsuccessfully) already had.

"Do you think we even have the man power to pull that off? We're vastly outnumbered if you recall" Tenten asked.

"We don't have to have the manpower, we just need to make a diversion. Naruko can shoot him with one of her arrows. All we'd have to do is give her a clear shot. Chōji's her team-mate. She and Lee should have the honours" Hinata suggested.

"Oh the joy. You seriously think I'm going to fire an arrow at Chōji? I poisoned them too much, and Chōji and Lee haven't had the antibodies for the new ones yet! It'd kill him in about a minute! I'm not doing that!" Naruko snapped.

"As long Ino and Kiba and I keep his heart rate going while you're working it won't be a problem! Isn't that the whole point?" Hinata demanded.

"And I'm telling you, you can't! I made that poison myself! Do you think I don't know what I'm talking about?! I'm not shooting Chōji full of poison he can't fight off!" Naruko snapped back, louder this time.

"Why don't we just fire the seal onto him with the arrows then?" Shino asked, effectively interrupting the argument before it could get any deeper. "It would be a lot simpler, and it wouldn't be so risky as causing a direct diversion when were outnumbered two to one."

"The seal is too big, too complex. I could split it into several arrows and have two of you fire them, but our timing would have to be absolutely exact for the different arrows to act cohesively, and no offence, but I don't think your bow-handling is up to that. It has to be done by hand" Naruko replied – she had already thrown that idea away.

"I don't think we have any other options, but why don't we try the brute force first? I think we'd all rather knock Chōji's sense back into him the usual way" Shikamaru suggested.

There was a gruff disagreement to that too. The arguing went on four hours, but ultimately no-one could think of a better idea than to shoot Chōji full of poison, and bring him back from the dead.

So that was the plan. Naruko didn't think it was exactly what Sasuke-sensei had meant, but she was outnumbered, and no-one else would even be able to pick up her bow (she had freezing seals set into it). So the job fell to her to kill her teammate.

So far the Chunin exams were living up to tradition.

* * *

><p>Slipping through the trees, Sasuke headed toward the closest tracking seal he had placed on each of his students after the Kumo incident.<p>

He had been determined not to lose track of his students ever again, and when it had come to their first mission outside the village again, Naruko had been almost boiling over with tears of nerves. It had been a spur of the moment thing to help her, but he'd made the seal last.

The branches were slippery from the evening mists and plant life under his sandals, and the croak of the frogs and cries of other animals under the light between sunset and dark was horrendously unsettling.

It reminded of his own first experience with Orochimaru, in this very forest. That man had turned his life upside down in a few short seconds, and Sasuke would have himself burned himself before he let the man do anything of the sort to his bunch of brats.

There was a running joke amongst the staff at the ANBU headquarters that the _'Monstrous Tengu'_ had turned into a _'Mother Duck with Duckies'_. Sasuke often glared at whichever former comrade made the joke, but he never denied it.

He loved his students as much as he did his own family, and he was no longer scared to deny any claims as such. He didn't shout it from the heavens the way some would, but he would be damned if he just let that monster hurt a single one of them.

The sounds of fighting were already dull in his ears, and growing louder by the second as he approached the southern end of the arena. Hurtling up through the branches to the canopy, he pulled himself to the top of pine tree, searching around for signs of fighting.

Far in the distance he could see the tell-tale smoke of a fire technique; the scent on the wind was a little different to natural fire, and if he pushed a little chakra into his ears, he could hear the clang of kunai.

Checking the tracking seals once again, Sasuke found all three in close to each other. Activating his Sharingan, he focused some extra chakra into his eyes, expanding his field of vision as he hurried towards the sound, as he drew closer, he could make out the different chakras of his students.

Chōji's stood out however. It wasn't just his own. In fact, it was hardly visible at all beneath the vast, foul chakra of Orochimaru. Grimly, Sasuke stopped focusing his chakra on his senses, and instead focused on his cursed seal.

The rage was fuelling it, and it rapidly spread in blackish purple flecks across his skin as he leapt from the treetops and up into the air, before his skin turned grey and a pair of great, clawed wings unfurled from his back.

He couldn't afford to be making too many plans anymore, or wasting time, so against his better judgement, he had released Orochimaru's cursed seal once again. He just hoped the vile form didn't give his students a heart attack.

He couldn't help but feel more at ease in the form – Orochimaru was toying around with his students the same we had in his own chunin exams, and having the mark as an aid now reassured him that his students would make it through as well, even if they shouldn't have to. The very thought made him grit his teeth in anger, fury, and the strong desire to wring the man's neck.

How could he let this happen again? The man had ruined his life, and now his students were being targeted in the same way. The signs had all been there! How had he managed to miss them? He'd spent years tracking the man in the ANBU. He knew his signature like the hand seals for a fire technique.

If any of those kids ended up with the cursed seal like he had… snarling behind his gritted teeth, he leapt from the tree tops into the air, beating the wings on his back furiously.

Slowly, the mass of chakras drew closer.

* * *

><p>"How is he?"<p>

Sakura looked up and glanced at her fiancé from her seat beside the Hokage's bed. He was leaning wearily in his Jonin uniform against the doorframe.

"He's stable," she replied, getting up from her seat, and guiding him to it. "He woke up for a while earlier but he was a bit delirious. It's still touch and go. Where have you been?" she asked.

"Haggling back and forth with the councillors," Itachi sighed, glancing over at the silent blonde man. "I commend him for putting up with them on a daily basis. In one respect, their loyalty is so strong it's incredible, but in others… Do you have anything in here that will take away a migraine?"

"Did it really go that badly?" Sakura asked, going to one of the cupboards and taking out a small bottle of pills, and handing him two of them. "What's going on?"

"Lots of bad things," Itachi swallowing the pills dry. "The entire council is in shambles. Thankfully not quite on the precipice of declaring war, but only because no one seems to know _who_ to go to war _with_" he groaned.

"The councillors want to declare hostile reception to Kumogakure, because Darui attacked Minato, but because the Mizukage's bodyguard was the first one to attack, the Raikage is protesting his innocence."

"Well, he is isn't he? He's Hokage-sama's half-brother. If that's not incentive to play fair, I don't know what is" Sakura protested.

"That's what I said, but Minato _did_ destroy Kumogakure because of what happened to Naruko. As far as it looks, this is the second time Kumo has attacked Konoha, even if the Raikage didn't order it," Itachi groaned.

"What about the others then?" Sakura asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"The Tsuchikage believes its all a plot by the Mizukage and wants to ally with Sunagakure, but because Darui attacked the Hokage he thinks they're working together with Minato, since he doesn't believe the Raikage is so heartless as to kidnap his own niece." he explained, sounding confused and wearied even as he spoke.

He had spent the last several hours in the council rooms as the Hokage's representative (chosen by ANBU and the senior Jonin as the most pragmatic and trustworthy), and everything was, got be blunt, completely and utterly buggered.

"But that would put his diplomatic trade status with Kumo at risk, since Suna isn't really on friendly terms with them either, so he won't do anything, and the Kazekage is thinking of going into village seclusion to get away from all of them because the only one he trusts is Minato, and he's in an Intensive Care Unit. Personally, I don't blame him. They're all a nightmare."

"But things have settled down for a moment?" Sakura asked, wondering if she should tell him where Sasuke's suspicions had led him.

"Yes, the Kages all agreed to play nice until the Chunin exams are over and we can focus on the matter with a proper investigation.

Sakura decided at that point, she probably should tell Itachi where his brother had gone. The more she thought about it the more she believed Sasuke was right about the conspirator behind the whole mess.

"About that, Sasuke is following a theory," she said warily.

"Sasuke has a theory? Where is he?" Itachi asked.

"He thinks its Orochimaru."

"He thinks _everything_ is Orochimaru," he countered. "In case you forgot, he's both obsessed and paranoid. He roasts every grass snake he sees with fire in case they're _'Orochimaru's spies'_"

"I know, but the more I think about it the more I believe him" Sakura said. "The way nothing makes sense is exactly like it was during our exams, and when Orochimaru was conducting his experiments."

"You said he was _'following a theory'_…" Itachi said warily. " I'm presuming you meant literally?"

"He's probably inside the arena by now" Sakura nodded. "I've never seen him that convinced before, and I assumed there would be watchers from each village going in to make sure the Chunin applicants were alright, or investigate them."

"I suppose," Itachi sighed. "In any case, it's probably better to have someone we can definitely trust in there. At the moment all the other villages are too suspicious for us to ally ourselves with, and I've got the sinking suspicion that none of them are guilty."

Before Itachi could ask any more questions, the machines attached to the Hokage began to blare and flash wildly as their readings reacted.

* * *

><p>Naruko blocked a swift blow to the gut with her arm, ploughing her own into the face of a Sunagakure kunoich. Somewhere behind her, she could hear the squashed blasts of Hinata's Jyūken doing the same thing to another one.<p>

They had left the cave earlier that morning, and were almost at the spot where Chōji had made his own base. Unsurprisingly, it was being watched. Pulling a kunai from her pouch as the blonde girl recovered, Naruko waited for her to charge again, blocking her second barrage and slamming the kunai through her neck.

She didn't know if any of these people were being manipulated or not, but they couldn't afford to take chances. They had to get through the people who were for whatever reason helping Chōji attack the Konoha applicants in his possessed state.

Ramming her elbow back into the throat of a Kirigakure boy who looked about ten before he could slit her throat, Naruko turned and searched through the crowds for Chōji. Sighting him standing on the edge of the battlefield near Ino and Lee, she looked at the masses of Kirigakure and Kumo ninja coming towards her, and frowned as she called upon her chakra and started forming the tiger seal.

It looked like every applicant from Kumogakure and Kirigakure were amongst the crowd, and Naruko was certain there were a few Iwagakure shinobi in there too. Something was wrong here, but she couldn't see what it was. There was a reason all these applicants had banded together so quickly.

The five villages weren't exactly known for their teamwork. A couple got along – Konoha and Suna for example – but other than that, it was suspicious to see groups of ninja from different villages actually working together so cohesively.

There was more to worry about than the why right now though. Finishing her set of hand seals, Naruko gathered her fire and wind chakra together, releasing an enhanced fireball from her lips towards the people approaching her.

With the way cleared, she rushed through them towards the trees near to Chōji. She had to shoot that arrow. Managing to quickly flit up into the branches of one tree, she withdrew the arrow she had prepared earlier, just as Ino was blasted in the gut by Chōji's hammer and thrown into the trunk of the tree.

Gritting her teeth, and hoping it would work, she let fire the arrow. It whistled silently through the air, and struck Chōji in the chest dead centre. At first everything seemed to be in order, then she realised he wasn't bleeding.

"It's an Illusion!" she screamed furiously, centring on her own chakra and trying to disrupt it. _'Why didn't you tell me you stupid fox?!'_

'_I didn't realise it either – don't blame your own incompetence on me,'_ Kurama snorted back in reply, sending a jolt of his chakra into her own in spite of his irritation. _'I'm not completely invulnerable to illusions you know!'_

As the illusion disappeared, Naruko glanced around, jumping down from her tree trying to find what was wrong. Nothing looked any different, until she settled her eyes on where Chōji had been. Then all of a sudden, everything was wrong, even though the plan had been executed perfectly. Too perfectly.

Eyes were wide at the sudden intrusion into flesh, the piercing tip of Naruko,s arrow lodged inside the body. Blood spilled from the entry wound, bursting like a butterfly over the fabric of clothing as the poison on the tip stilled muscles and congealed and constricted inside the victim's lungs. It was exactly the way it was supposed to have happened.

But it wasn't Chōji. It was Hinata.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Um... All I can say is that the last few months have been hectic. That is my only excuse for this horrendously late update. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get to this, but I'll be damned if I don't finish this story, so those of you have hung in there, major hugs for you :)<strong>_

_**I cant promise quick updates, but this arc will be over soon, and hopefully whatever block I have with it will disappear too. Grr. I loved this Arc when I started it, now I hate it. Grr. Anger. Hate. Frustration.**_

_**Lots of things going on in this chapter, so hopefully that should make up for the late update :)**_

_**Untill the next update (hopefully not so long a wait this time -_-;)**_  
><em><strong>Nat.<strong>_  
><em><strong>xxx<strong>_

_**P.S. Please excuse any spelling and grammar errors. I wanted to get this chapter out, so it hasn't been Beta'd. **_


	29. Final Exams: Part I

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ ****& ****ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Twenty Nine - -<br>****Final Exams ~ Part I**

* * *

><p><em>'Trippin' out, spinnin' around; I'm underground, I fell down. I'm freakin' out;<br>So where am I now? I'm upside down, and I can't stop it now.'_

* * *

><p>Hinata Hyūga, 7th Heiress and 19th heir of the Hyūga clan, successor of Hiashi Hyūga, sister of Hanabi Hyūga, was dead. Naruko Namikaze had killed her, and try though she might, she could not grasp this astringent fact.<p>

Kiba was already beside her, trying to heal her wounds after removing the arrow, but Naruko had aimed too well, and she knew Hinata wouldn't have the antibodies to the poison the tips of her arrows were coated with.

Even if she made the antidote now (which she couldn't do with the ingredients she had, and none of the ones she needed grew in Water Country), there wouldn't be any time. Stumbling towards her, hoping to do something to help her _'enemy'_, it was too late by the time Naruko had pushed her way through their attackers. Hinata was already dead.

Her body was prone on the ground, the arrow protruding from her chest, just beneath her bust line, dead centre between her ribs, exactly where Naruko had aimed. Poison didn't need a heart or vital spot to do its work after all.

"I don't get it," Kiba murmured in shock. "It was Chōji! What's going on?"

"I already knew about your little plot, is what is going on, Inuzuka."

The Konoha ninja turned around as Chōji climbed up from beneath the earth, pushing aside the rock with ease, and mocking laughter in his eyes.

"Hinata Hyūga was easy to take over. I came across her after your friend finished fighting her, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity, and none of you noticed," he said, dusting off one of his shoulders. "Now, I believe you were trying to kill me?"

Naruko urged her feet to move but she was frozen. All she could think about was the fact that she had just killed Hinata. All she could concentrate on was the blood spilling out across her frozen body, staining her skin and clothes. All she could imagine was what her poison had done to the inside of Hinata's body.

She had been tricked, again. Even having Kurama hadn't been enough to keep her away from the trap of an illusion, and it had cost her one of her classmates. It was true that she and Hinata didn't get along, but she never wanted to kill her!

She knew she was a bit stone-hearted sometimes - she blamed her pre-teen years, they weren't exactly stable, even by ninja standards - but to want to kill someone from her own village? She had no fondness for the Hyūgas, but she wouldn't commit murder!

And yet, that was what she had just done, wasn't it? How was she going to explain to her dad? To Hinata's dad? How-

"Naruko, move!" Ino screamed.

Blinking back to reality, Naruko stared at the huge balls of earth that were being pelted in her direction, before realising they were going to hit her. Instinctively, she summoned as much lightning chakra as she could, coating her skin in it to such an extent that the earthen bullets disintegrated to powder within millimetres of touching it.

Winded by the sudden defence (surviving had been more of a priority than controlling her chakra output, and hers had taken a quick drop with nature technique), Naruko dived under the cover of some nearby trees, still clutching her bow. Thank the gods Ino had been watching her back, or she would have been dead too. Trying to focus herself, she clutched her bow, and tried to think.

She had been sure that it was Chōji in front of her, but she couldn't think when Chōji could have cast such a large technique across the whole group. She wasn't the only one with confusion on her face. Shikamaru looked like he wanted to pull his hair out across the clearing.

Even if Chōji was possessed, the person controlling him would have to work with his chakra stores whilst controlling him, and she knew Chōji's weren't big enough for that level of technique, so it hadn't been cast on them directly. But if it hadn't been when Hinata had supposedly been possessed too, when had it been?

That in turn raised another question - how had Orochimaru (if it was really him) been able to control Chōji and Hinata at the same time? Even Ino's dad had difficulty with that, and this was clearly a distance technique. This was way beyond their understanding! Naruko had no idea what to do, and she could see that her companions looked just as lost and confused.

The best thing to do was to stick to the plan, something Idate signalled from his own hiding spot, and while Naruko agreed it was the best course, that just raised even more problems!

They needed to deliver a wound big enough to knock Chōji down, but not kill him so that she could start the seals to eject the thing possessing him from his body. What was there she hadn't tried yet? What hadn't they considered?!

Clones were no good. She couldn't make clones to shoot the seal through her arrows. It was the seal, or the clones, not both. If she used the Kyūbi's chakra, she might be able to manage it, but she had never used it before, and while she and the fox got along reasonably well, she wasn't stupid. He'd take any chance to break free. She couldn't take that risk, not even for Chōji.

What else? What else? There had to be something! There had to be! She'd read books and scrolls for situations like this, so many of them. There had to be something they could do! How were they going to break the possession? How did they get Chōji back?

"Naruko!" Ino screamed again.

The sound of branches creaking beside her, made her jump out of the way just in time to avoid the butt of Chōji's thick, heavy hammer hurling through the tree branches towards her. It spun in the ear, whistling as the handle turned over and over the head, rapidly heading towards the blond girl's eyes.

Jerking back to the problems at hand, Naruko ducked just in time. The hammer landed with a sickening crunch in the trunk of the tree, the bark splintering around it with thick cracking sounds as an accompaniment. It had missed her head by millimetres.

Suddenly, it was yanked back again, slamming once more into the tree. Still trying to get herself under control, Naruko instinctively ducked and dodged as it pounded the tree trunk. Then, the tree began to fall ominously. The rain blows continued as Naruko raced through the branches as quickly as she could, leaping to the ground as the destructive tool dogged her footsteps, cracking the bark as soon as her feet left it.

As she made to jump to a different tree (only to be stopped by another hammer blow), the entire scene played across her vision; clones and some of the other ninja that had been helping him earlier were engaged with Ino and the others. Tenten and Lee were both occupied by a clone each. It was a brief glimpse only; the trunk began to hurtle towards the ground with one last crash of the hammer.

As soon as she could, she leapt from the safety of the branches, and Naruko found herself stuck in the open battlefield with her possessed friend. He moved with an unusual amount of grace that she knew wasn't his – Chōji was graceful, but it wasn't nearly as subtle as his current frame of mind exuded.

He took much slighter steps, and had a sanguine manner as his fingers tightened around the handle of the weapon, and in the flick of his fingers as he hurled it towards her. Diving to one side, she ducked away, managing to avoid most of the blast, but for a few stray rocks that flew in her direction.

Dust hurled into the air as this repeated. Each movement was rapid, so rapid that it took all her concentration just to dodge. She knew that she was being lured into an endurance game, but she couldn't stop even for a moment to gather her chakra properly. There was no time for arrows. She tried to get closer, hoping to perhaps get some blows in quickly enough to separate Chōji from his hammer, but no sooner did she take any steps forward did she have to step back again.

Cycling through ideas in her head, she settled on one that sounded like something Sasuke would probably do himself, but scold them for even trying. It wasn't that hard to do really - she was exhausted, so as the hammer flew towards her, Naruko only made the barest effort to avoid it.

It struck her in the gut, and the pain that shook through her bones in protest sung in her head as she was knocked to the ground. It resounded in her ears, metal smothered her mouth with the taste of blood, and black spots dotted across her eyes, but she didn't let go of her chance.

Grabbing on to the hammer as tightly as she could, Naruko gathered as much chakra as she could, focusing on building up all the chakra she could as the hammer was yanked back towards Chōji. His eyes widened when he realised it had a passenger, but she didn't hesitate.

He dropped the hammer, and she let go. The force was still enough for her to fly through the air towards the unpleasant presence occupying her teammate, and as she drew close. She parried, the blows sent to shake her attack off.

Using his shoulder as a pivot, Naruko pushed the chakra she had gathered into Chōji's body, mentally apologising as she charged it. If she could fry Chōji's chakra network just enough, his chakra would be cut off. It would prevent the person occupying him from using his chakra, even if it wouldn't be enough to eject the foreign entity from him.

"Chōji, snap out of this!" She screamed at him. "I know you can do it! Some 16th Akimichi clan head you are if you can't!"

"He can't hear you," Chōji smirked, gripping her wrist as she flew above his head; collapsing to the ground, momentarily seeing a haze in her vison, she didn't see the fireballs hurled in her direction until one of them seared through the skin of her shoulder.

Screaming involuntarily, she backed away, trying to heal the wound as best she could. How could Chōji still be using his chakra? That lightning should have at least blocked his network! It was by no means the same technique, but it was the same principle as the Hyūga palm techniques. Sort of.

Why was he still using chakra?

All of the thoughts, coupled with her injuries, were starting to make things hazy; she could feel the Kyūbi trying to heal her as she rolled away from a large fireball, but it was slow, nowhere near his usual speed. Something was wrong. If she didn't know better, she would guess she had been poisoned, but that couldn't possibly be it. She would have started healing earlier if that was the case, slowed or not.

Diving away from more fireballs, Naruko heard Ino's telepathy in her head, reporting a plan Shikamaru had concocted - distract Chōji long enough for the Nara heir to try hold him again with his shadow techniques, then she could stab him with rasengan.

It sounded utterly hair brained. She'd have to overcharge her rasengan to deal this guy a decent blow, but what would that do to Chōji? Poison was one thing, as were arrow wounds, but rasengan? That could easily kill him instantly!

Unfortunately, Naruko couldn't think of anything better, so she had to go with it. The hammer had returned, and it was much harder to dodge than before, but the range was shorter, so she managed to get close this time, and a spar quickly began.

Chōji slammed one fist towards her gut, and she blocked it with her forearm, wincing at the pressure. Chōji was stronger than her even without his hammer. She'd always been irritated by the fact that the two boys on her team (Sasuke didn't count – he was a man) dwarfed her with their body mass, but now it was real problem.

It took a lot of strength to go up against Chōji. Naruko was not the strongest girl in her generation physically. She was thin, and no matter how hard she trained, she didn't get any real muscle.

She was at a good strength for most Kunoichi, but against all the muscle mass Chōji's Akimichi ancestry had blessed him with, it was really just a matter of time and endurance. She never took him head on during their spars, because she knew she couldn't.

Hoping to avoid any direct blows and keep Chōji distracted, Naruko heaved herself over his shoulders, swinging a kick out towards the back of his head, grabbing hold of his shoulder and using her wrist as a pivot to help bring more strength into the impact.

Before she could land, Chōji's strong fingers clamped on the wrist she a used as a pivot. As he pulled her towards him, Naruko tried to use the same trick to send him flying, but it didn't work. Chōji had a firm hold of her, and at the same time he formed a mud clone to occupy her teammates.

His hand quickly wrapped around her neck, all but cutting off her air supply. Naruko gave up trying to fight after a few moment, and instead clawed at his fingers, trying to pull the thick fingers crushing her windpipe away.

She tried to call on Kurama, but she couldn't sense him as her oxygen supply became restricted. Dizzying spots began to ripple over her vision, and she could only keep struggling. Why did Chōji have to be so much stronger than her?

"Chōji! Stop!" She heard Lee roar from somewhere beyond her sight. "You're going to let him kill her if you don't wake up!"

"That is the plan," Chōji sneered, "but not just yet. We're missing someone," he said loudly, releasing his grip on her throat just enough for her to choke in another breath as he turned in circles, searching uncharacteristically smug eyes around the landscape.

"Come on out Sasuke!" He called out, an unpleasant eagerness in his voice. "It's been so long since we've seen each other in person! Don't you want to catch up?" He asked. "Your whole team's here! Don't you want to join them?"

Naruko tried to focus. Lee was still shouting somewhere, she could hear Ino and Shikamaru too, but their words were all indistinct. It was only by focusing on her chakra senses that she knew they were there at all.

It was using that sense that she felt the familiar chakra seconds before the monstrous grey form landed in front of her.

* * *

><p>"Orochimaru," Sasuke snarled.<p>

He _knew_ he wasn't paranoid this time, and he had been right. It was Chōji's face and fingers that were taking such pleasure from suffocating Naruko, but he would recognise the speech pattern and slimy arrogance anywhere. The manner, the serene, serpentine smirk that curled unpleasantly at the corner of the boy's mouth was unmistakable.

How Orochimaru had managed to possess so many people at once, he had no idea, but Sasuke it was irrelevant. Orochimaru was right in front of him, and Sasuke was going to force him out of Chōji's mind, even if he had to cut down his own student in the process. Chōji would heal, but he would not let Orochimaru get away. Not again. Not this time.

"Get your hands off my students," he growled, felling electric charging around his fingers at the sight of the chaos around him. Ino looked like she had taken a leg injury, and Shikamaru looked only slightly better off.

The others were busy fighting off some of the other possessed Genin, except for Lee, who was restrained with his own sword held against his throat by a mud clone of Chōji. Kiba was unconscious and Hinata…

"And miss this chance to talk to my favourite test subject?" Orochimaru asked. "Let's talk Sasuke, and I might not break her pretty little neck."

Sasuke stared at Naruko; her fingers were digging so deeply into the hand that suffocated her that Chōji's hands were bleeding and her nails had broken. Her own neck has scratches from her attempt to free her airway, and her lips were starting to tinge to blue.

Orochimaru was standing right in front of him.

"Then break it."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Err...<em>**

**_*~dodges-rocks-from-the-angry-mob~*_**

**_Guess what? I'm still alive! And hopefully tackling the pile of writing deadlines that I've been trying to complete for a few months now. Finally able to post something. I actually nearly cried when I got to uploading this. I've missed writing so much, and I had to cut it out of my life for the past year or so, which honestly nearly killed me. _**

**_Reason? Life got REALLY FUCKING CRAP for a while. That's all I'll say to excuse the horrendous wait of an update time._**

**_I hope the fact that I know the end of this story, and that it's nowhere near in sight yet, will be an amends for my tardiness with this update. Un-beta-d at the moment. Apologies for any grammar misses._**

**_Song Quote: 'Alice' Extended Edition by Avril Lavigne._**

**_Nat_****_  
><strong>xxx<strong>_**


	30. Final Exams: Part II

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ ****& ****ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Thirty - -<br>****Final Exams ~ Part II**

* * *

><p><em>'<em>_Today's the day that I start to pray.__'_

* * *

><p>"Then break it."<p>

Orochimaru's lip curled with satisfaction upon hearing Sasuke's words, and his grip loosened in his fingers just enough for Naruko to inhale a sharp breath as he pulled her against Chōji's chest, roughly holding her up with one arm around her neck and pressing the other to the side of her head.

"How cold-hearted of you Sasuke," he commented, the voice growing less like Chōji's the more it was used by his captor. "I realise our reunion has excited you, but aren't you smarter than that?" the renown snake-summoner asked, his words dripping like oil into her ears.

Though she couldn't really see much, she could hear the humour in his voice, the sheer glee he was taking from the twisting surroundings he had put her and her friends in. It almost sounded like he was being _aroused_ by it, and it made her sick to her stomach.

"Itachi was the smart one," Sasuke said bluntly, his eyes swirling and focused on the man looking from behind his student's eyes. "You were rather displeased with your mix-up if I recall." He could see the yellow pupils hiding behind Chōji's eyes, the black lank hair that was covered by brown. He could even smell the man – the scent of anaesthetics and surgical cleaning fluid, and blood and bone.

_Turning his head was the worst mistake of his life. The fangs sunk into his neck with so much force that Sasuke was certain they might snap it._

It mixed so firmly with the scent of the surroundings that Sasuke could see the first meeting with the man all over again if he concentrated enough. He remembered that oily voice, and sickly scent permeating his nostrils just before the man attacked.

'_You should be honoured to be a part of my research.'_

"And yet you are here, and your brother is not," Orochimaru chuckled. "Your control has vastly improved I see," he noted, watching and eyeing Sasuke's grey skinned form as his clawed wings twitched in anxiety.

_Sasuke screamed as the chakra infused blade sunk into his shoulder._

"I've had time to practice" Sasuke snarled, watching the former Konoha ninja with steadfast eyes that blotted out most of his hearing, such was their focus. Everything had gone silent but for the sound of his own breathing and the feel of his chakra churning under his skin, and the pounding of the blood in his ears that demanded his attention be tuned the rouge ninja in front of him. He couldn't see the bodies of the Genin who had been possessed. He could hardly see the ones still left. He was only dimly aware of his team. This was his chance! He couldn't waste it!

'_You'll use this technique one day Sasuke – whether you want to or not. So it's only fair you experience it first-hand.'_

Sasuke had not expected to find the man here, but he would not let him leave! He would end the man if he killed himself in the process. How long had he been looking for this chance? How may missed opportunities had passed him by?

_Twelve months? But that was… A Year? It had been over a year?!_

Too may for Sasuke to sleep at night. Orochimaru would die. He wasn't sure if he could do it, but he could certainly injure him enough to let someone else finish him off. He just had to focus; rash decisions with Orochimaru were fatal ones.

'_The Kumo delegation turned and ran; we lost his trail.'_

First he needed to dissect the technique he was using. What kind of technique was this? Where was its basis? What could he find out about the structure? It couldn't be a mind controlling technique. There were too many people acting strangely for it to be a simple mind controlling technique.

'_Your mother was attacked Sasuke, by Kabuto.'_

But this was Orochimaru! The man shed bodies like reptiles their skin! He had numerous ongoing tests. Just weeks after he had signed on as a teacher, Sasuke got a hint from one of his old ANBU colleagues that 3 teams had been taken prisoner by the man. Prisoners for Orochimaru only meant one thing – _experiments_.

Looking to Chōji, he could not see his student. Standing in front of him was not the brown-haired boy, but the clack hair of Orochimaru, the pale skin that conjured images of the ghosts he had created, and yellow eyes that spoke of true inhumanity.

"Indeed you have, and I see you are no stranger to your seal," Orochimaru said gleefully. "Now, shall we exchange pleasantries?"

Sasuke didn't hesitate, lunging forwards, his katana prickling with the warped lightning that resulted from his seal. Orochimaru immediately formed a clone, and from its mouth emerged his own sword.

Blocking the blow of the blade that sprung from of Orochimaru's mouth with his own took all of Sasuke's strength, but he parried it, summoning all of his lightning chakra, turned black by his cursed seal form and furrowing it along the blade.

The clone disappeared, and Sasuke snapped around, using one hand to create a blast of flame that hurled across the bodies of the newly dead Genin towards the target. With his own quick gesture, Orochimaru summoned a wall of water, and the hissing steam that surrounded them blocked out even the barest glimpse of the older ninja.

"Sensei, stop!"

Without hesitation Sasuke bit down on this thumbs, and with another quick handseal, began to hurl shuriken from the storage bands around his wrists in a coat of flame in every direction. Like fireflies, they hurled with an eerie glow through the mist, cutting through it and lighting shadowy silhouettes from within.

Sasuke took no chances - he aimed at them all. Eventually, the shuriken ran out, and he changed to kunai tipped with exploding tags; several stored within each other, a new idea he had arranged with inspiration from his student's arrows. Taking one between his fingers, he took advantage of the cursed form and focussed on his connection to Orochimaru through it.

"Sasuke-sensei!"

He didn't like to focus on it, but he could use it to find the man. It was only a short moment so he wouldn't be influenced by it too much. Instantly locating Orochimaru, Sasuke hurled the kunai in that direction. The explosion was tremendous, but the lingering presence in the back of his mind didn't disappear.

"Get out here and stop hiding behind your skin you coward!" Sasuke roared, tasting blood in his throat as his voice thundered around the clearing.

Rapidly making the handseals for a fireball, he aimed towards Orochimaru. As the fire let rip, searing and hurtling towards him, Orochimaru burst out of his skin, lunging towards Sasuke. Charging a current over his body, Sasuke took advantage of the cursed form enhancements as Orochimaru dropped his attacks into him.

Managing to parry the blows that came his way - though he could tell they were not serious ones in spite of the accomplishment - Sasuke used his extra strength to hurl the man back towards the trees. Using the watery pools that littered the clearing as a conduit, Sasuke let his chidori stream across the ground, over body flesh and flora alike.

The light from his chidori lit up the clearing, and he sighted Orochimaru's silhouette through the mists. Quickly forming a ram handseal.

"Raiton; Kurotori no jutsu!"

The black lightning Sasuke had formed began to coalesce into the entity of flock of birds, each with a piercing, crackling maw; as soon as their talons had sharpened, Sasuke released the chakra animals in Orochimaru's direction.

It had taken him several months to learn how to alter the yin and yang of his natural lightning chakra, and several more months before he had been able to use the technique, but it had been an easy goal to aspire for after his sojourn in Orochimaru's care.

Sasuke had been encouraged after using chidori in his cursed seal form, when he was first learning to control it and to figure out its uses. The lightning he used in that form was already black, so he knew it was possible. It was just the matter of how. He had first focused on lightning, then fire. Once he had looked up the natures of yin and yang releases, it hasn't been difficult to figure out how to apply it to his own chakra.

Sasuke doubted he could kill Orochimaru with any of his techniques, but he'd be able to injure him enough so that help could arrive, or so that he would be forced to withdraw. Focusing the technique, Sasuke guided the flock towards its target.

The small birds swooped and flew around their target upon reaching it, scratching at biting with their claws and beaks, leaving searing trails in their wake as Sasuke summoned his seals of a fireball.

His fingers sped threw them, and the fireball that fed from his chakra behind the birds was vast, and it hurtled towards Orochimaru, picking up speed as it sped through the air with-

"_Sensei!_"

The voice that called out was not Orochimaru's speech pattern. It was purely Chōji. As panic surged through his veins, Sasuke conjured several threads of chakra to his fingertips, as he had taught Chōji to do with his hammer, and threw them to the fireball. Managing to grab onto it, Sasuke managed to hurl it off course, sending the mass of flames crashing into the side of a rock face.

The explosion blew him back, and filled his ears. As Sasuke picked himself up from the ground there was eerie silence for a moment, then, slowly increasing in volume as the mist finally began to dim, light clapping began to echo all around him, before he felt a throbbing nausea in his throat. Unruffled, Sasuke turned towards the trees, where the man stood lightly, softly pressing his cupped palms together in appreciation.

"How ruthless," he commented, before disappearing. Refusing to be tricked by the man's mind games, he turned back to the first body. "I'd heard you became a Jonin-sensei, and I was interested to see what would happen if they were put under duress," the man added, squeezing Naruko's throat once for emphasis. "This one especially - Jinchūriki are always fascinating specimens."

Sasuke felt his blood run cold at the sound of the voice, of the face now in front of him. Chōji. Chōji! Then, as if someone had snapped their fingers, he blinked and Orochimaru's face appeared before him once again. Blinking furiously, Sasuke faltered as the picture in front of him flickered between student and dissector.

"I expected you to be a bit softer," he said with Chōji's voice as the images flickered back and forth. "But you attacked me regardless. I'm rather surprised."

Sasuke blinked, and as he did, he remembered. He allowed his eyes to look at the kunoichi being used as a shield. There was a shuriken lodged in her shoulder. One of _his._ As he recognised it Sasuke's blood stilled. Had he thrown that?

"Sensei!"

Blinking, Sasuke turned and glanced at Lee; he too was injured, but one in particular drew Sasuke's eyes – a thick scratch along his neck. Realising it was from one of his weapons, Sasuke gritted his teeth. He'd been tricked.

He'd been tricked _again_. Tricked into attacking his own students. He didn't know how, but Orochimaru had used the same technique he had used on Chōji on him. He had underestimated him. He had been so sure though! He had been so sure that he could handle him this time!

"I assumed you would care more for their wellbeing, but you've proved me wrong – in which case, I'll follow your orders regarding my original request."

Remembering the hasty words he had spoken moments ago upon arriving at the clearing, Sasuke felt his pulse miss a beat. He'd seen that same hand that was around Naruko's neck rip throats out without even looking.

Orochimaru's fingers began to twist Naruko's head, and without even thinking, Sasuke lunged. He was an idiot! He'd been too caught up, too focused on Orochimaru rather than the situation itself. He had students to think about! He could not let this madman get to them the same way he had ruined his own life!

"Get your claws off her!" Sasuke roared as Naruko dug her nails and fingers into the arm that was trying to twist her neck. Orochimaru dodged the swipe of his katana easily but his hands stopped moving.

"Picking favourites already?" Chōji's lips asked. "Are you so excited to see me Sasuke?" he laughed.

"What do you want?" Sasuke snarled, reluctantly acquiescing for the moment, his eyes flickering from Naruko to lee, to the other students. Most of them seemed unharmed except for Hinata.

"Simply to see the results of my research in action," Chōji's voice echoed eagerly. "And you've always been so reluctant to see me Sasuke. I wanted to observe my side project a little" he added.

"You mean this technique," Sasuke growled, his mind still racing. Orochimaru may be a show off, but he was still dangerous. This technique in and of itself was a prime example.

Sasuke could tell that it was a possession technique, but he could also tell by the feel of Chōji's chakra that it was not at all like the host-swapping technique Orochimaru used to prolong his life. Chōji had probably been aware of everything from the very beginning, and it was only a whim of Orochimaru that allowed him to break through the possession just as Sasuke was about to roast him alive.

"Precisely," Chōji smiled. "And I must admit, I've been quite surprised so far. Even now your body is showing some resistance, as is your favourite student – though that doesn't surprise me. Her passenger gave her some resistance during my initial tests."

His body showed resistance? That meant this wasn't a mind technique then, not completely, and if he was immune to it, Sasuke could only guess it was because of the poisons he had already been forced to build antibodies to (by the very man he was speaking to no less). That was most likely why he had focused on his team, to see how strong his resistance was compared to others without those antibodies.

By a similar logic, Naruko was also given some resistance (though apparently not as much now) due to the presence of the Kyūbi inside her. As a separate entity, concerned only with its own survival, it would ensure immunity to any poisons she might encounter. Sasuke also knew she had made antibodies for all of her self-made poisons (with help from Sakura and Tsunade-sama).

That also meant it wasn't a purely chakra based technique. There was also a physical bridge between the possession itself and Orochimaru's chakra, most likely the contaminant itself (though Sasuke had no idea how he could have taken control of so many people, even with that knowledge). Knowing Orochimaru, Sasuke was certain the contaminant had already been introduced into their bloodstreams somehow.

What bothered him the most was Orochimaru's assumption that Naruko would have held resistance to the technique too. He mentioned 'initial tests', but why should she have resisted it before? That would mean he had exposed them to it before.

"What initial tests?" Sasuke demanded, a churning building in his gut as he focused on all the information he had been given so far.

When? When would Orochimaru have been interested in testing this technique? No, that wasn't the right question – a better question would be when would he have been _most_ interested in testing it? Sasuke knew the answer just by instinct and knowledge of his former captor, but he didn't want to think about it.

"I wanted to see how well it infected the controlee," Chōji said, "I wanted to see how they would absorb the memories after the possession passed, so I selected an undercover Kumogakure kunoichi working in Konoha hospital. It gave me the perfect opportunity to observe your team."

Sasuke's back took on the heavy feelings of disbelief and even fear of what Orochimaru's words meant as Naruko regained a little of her awareness. "You possessed Karui," he muttered disbelievingly. "She was your test subject. You were the one controlling her until Naruko killed her."

"Correct." 

* * *

><p><strong><em>Raiton: Kurotori no jutsu; Lightning Style: Art of the Blackbirds.<em>**

**_Aaaaand, we finally reach chapter 30! With a nice clifhanger too - I do love those. :) Hope youre all still with me - I really, really missed this story._**

**_ In a way, I'm glad this chapter was such a problem - it was originally part of the last chapter, but it was just... *THROWS SHARP POINTY OBJECTS and ~# &*&*%$£££"?~~~########!* _****_Making Sasuke fight well without the Mangekyo is a PAIN IN THE BUM. I have no fucking clue what's going to happen in the next chapter in that aspect._**

**_Regardless, I hope you like this update.  
><em>_Nat.  
>xxx<em>**

**_Song Quote: 'Alice' (Extended edition) by Avril Lavigne._**


	31. Final Exams: Part III

**Stupid Sensei  
><strong>**サスケ ****& ****ナルコ**

* * *

><p>If someone had told Sasuke that the only Kunoichi on his Genin team was his future wife, he would have scoffed at them for even thinking something so ridiculous. It was just his bad luck that said Kunoichi was Naruko Namikaze; SasuFemNaru, possible strange side pairings.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>- - Chapter Thirty One - -<br>****Final Exams ~ Part III**

* * *

><p><em>'<em>_I found myself in Wonderland;  
>I'll get back on my feet again.<br>Is this real? Is this pretend?  
>I'll take a stand until the end<em>_'_

* * *

><p><em>"You possessed Karui," Sasuke muttered disbelievingly. "She was your test subject. You were the one controlling her until Naruko killed her."<em>

_"Correct."_

Sasuke tried to ignore what that meant. It meant that Naruko had been scarred almost beyond repair because this sick, disgusting man had needed a test subject. What for, Sasuke didn't want to know right now, it explained everything though.

Why Kumo's apparent attack had been so sudden, uncharacteristic, how it had been so rapidly taken away from the Raikage's control. It had been practice. Practice for this summit. Orochimaru had used Karui to test the main technique, and then he had expanded it across the people of Kumogakure after the invasion.

Even if he hadn't properly been able to defend Kumogakure, the line of Raikage there was an ironclad genetic line by law, unlike in Konoha, where most were elected. Even if Ä had lost popularity, the coup d'état should not have been so fast. Only the Daimyo had the power to depose him, and while the Lightning Daimyo was certainly unhappy, the reports suggested that he wasn't quite that displeased yet.

But more than anything, it meant that even his students had been brought into the man's self-imposed, twisted hell! How could he have let this happen? He swore to himself after his mother had been crippled by Orochimaru's underling that he wouldn't rest until he'd wiped every trace of the man from the world!

What else had he cost him? First his own experience as a test subject, then his first team in the ANBU, Hana, Anko, his mother, Hayate! Was he supposed to sit and let him ruin the lives of his students too? And it was Chōji.

That stung him the most – the fact that Orochimaru would pick the kindest one to ensnare and taint with his foul mind; if Chōji knew what Orochimaru was forcing his body to do, he hoped he had the mental strength to know it wasn't of his doing.

Lee was _Dependable_. Naruko was _Unpredictable_. Both of them lacked the edge of amiability that Chōji's lack of confidence as a child had given him however. They were surer of themselves in spite of their own issues, and didn't show the same kind of care to others as Chōji did. Chōji was _Congenial._

It wasn't to say Lee and Naruko weren't both good kids themselves – they were. But they weren't Chōji, and Sasuke didn't want to see him taken into Orochimaru's games with him. None of them, but especially not Chōji.

Seeing red, he knew that the only way to get Naruko out of harm's way would be to use his stronger attacks, which risked her own presence getting caught in them, but he was running out of ideas, and time. He was also aware of standings within the village itself, the Hokage's condition.

It was also pointless trying to defeat Orochimaru with tame attacks. He was too smart, and too powerful. If he approached with the intent to kill, he might be able to separate them. The best way to do so would be with an illusion, but that would take time he wasn't sure he had, and Orochimaru knew how to battle the Sharingan.

Forming several hand seals, he locked his gaze with Orochimaru's focusing his chakra against the man's glare intently brushing away his instinctual shiver of revulsion and fear. Orochimaru's desire to kill was as strong as ever.

He could see the other Genin starting to trample underneath it, but Lee was still standing (though he was still being held by his own sword by one of Chōji's clones). Summoning a fire natured chakra, Sasuke rapidly fled through the hand seals for one of the strongest in his possession after making a shadow clone to aid his green-loving student.

"_Katon; G__ō__enka!_"

The fireballs which formed above their heads were not as large as they could be, but Sasuke set them higher so that they had farther to fall with the aid of gravity. All he had to do was aim them. Chōji's eyes furrowed as he brought them down around him and charged forward.

Shifting his speed as Chōji fluidly dodged the bullets, Sasuke watched his movements, quickly moving to block his path as his clone made two more of the same. Hefting his hammer in one hand, Chōji watched one of the fireballs heading towards him, and with one hand slammed it into the fireball, enhancing it with his own chakra.

As soon as the fireball had been repelled, the hammer slammed to the muddy surface of the clearing – seeing the state of the ground, Sasuke cursed, dodging a running line of earthen spines as they shot from beneath his feet, retreating to the air over Lee. The tide was coming in. It wouldn't be long before this clearing was flooded. It was already half gone – he guessed that it would only be around ten minutes before Lee was fighting on the surface rather than the mud.

"Come now Sasuke, don't you want to know how I achieved all this?" he Orochimaru sneered, watching as one of the fireballs dropped towards him. It landed and the resulting explosion echoed around the clearing, blinding them all and throwing Sasuke from flight path, dangerously close to one of the mangrove trees.

"How? Why?" Sasuke hissed in answer to Orochimaru's question, watching as the smoke cleared, and a dome of earth dribbled and crumpled – an earth technique.

Lee had managed to free himself as Chōji was distracted before Sasuke's clone arrived, and now he and the clone had both taken their swords to hand. Starting more hand seals, Sasuke watched as they held their swords low another, swooping down towards the others and quickly drawing his chokutō once the seals were complete.

"_Katon; Bakuneko no Jutsu!_" he chanted, leaving forming three flaming felines to follow as he surged forwards, cutting his way through wind blast with his sword. Forging a path the small cats leapt past until they reached their intended target.

As Lee approached from one side, his clone approached from the other, and the cats raced down beside him. Chōji whirled his hammer in an arc around his body, stretching it away with a swing of chakra. It connected with his clone, dispelling it into a puff of smoke, but Lee jumped, dipped, dived, and dodged. After years of helping him develop it, he was fully versed in the tricks to avoiding Chōji's aptly named _'Tsuchi Pachinko'_ method of whirling his hammer and firing it from ropes of chakra.

As the cats landed, circling in search of an opening point, Lee lunged forwards, splitting his own shadow clone as Chōji aimed his hammer towards Sasuke. Deflecting it, with some effort, Sasuke held two fingers up in front of him, releasing the timers on the flame cats.

He was grateful for Lee's help – having Orochimaru's intelligence in a body as strong as Chōji's was a serious pain in back side. Naruko didn't even _bother_ to challenge him head on during training. Sasuke could manage Chōji by himself, and Lee too had inherited enough training from his adoptive father to manage when pushed, but even they had to be on toes to avoid getting knocked flat.

"_Katsu!"_ he called out, as Lee and his shadow clone took their own technique forth. His cats had been developed after a brief skirmish with Deidara of Iwagakure – he could see the potential in his own fire techniques, and while it wasn't quite as strong as the clay ninja's bombs, the resulting explosion was more than enough to distract Chōji.

They exploded in three successive, finely timed blasts which succeeding in drawing Orochimaru's grip from Naruko's neck, sending the battered girl through the air to tumble out to the open water. Before she sunk too far beneath the water Sasuke managed to cast some stabilising chakra on her so she stayed afloat, using a string of chakra to pull her to the surface just as Lee's skin darkened with the opening of his eight gates.

Normally Sasuke would lecture Lee about using them rashly, but it was an emergency, and any extra strength would be only beneficial. Together, they dove into the blast of the fading explosion, aiming for Chōji (Sasuke using his Sharingan through the smoke cover and Lee his sensory capabilities to track his position).

"_Sh__ō__mon__ Gekk__ō__-Ry__ū__;__Mikazuki no Mai!" _Lee roared, bringing his sword down on Chōji's shoulder; the chakra infused blade crackled with the sound of wind chakra. The technique was one Sasuke had taught him personally, jazzed up with some of Lee's personal flair. Sasuke was sure Hayate was rolling in his grave for the variant on the style, but could apologise to him when they got back to the village.

With the force of the blow and the help of the wind running along Lee's blade, Chōji was blasted back towards Sasuke. Summoning electric chakra once more now that Chōji was away from Naruko, he formed the hand seals for Chidori, streaming it through the blade as he ran the blade through Chōji's gut.

To his fury and consternation, Chōji disappeared, only to be replaced by a muddy rotten log.

"I needed a base," Orochimaru said simply, from outside the dust cloud; Chōji's shoulder bore the brunt of Lee's attack, so at least they had dealt a blow on him, but it wasn't enough to knock him out. "It was a good chance to see how you had adjusted to the life of a teacher, and I must say I'm quite impressed. You hardly noticed my presence at all during the mission – even the sLeeping drug. It should have been familiar to you Sasuke, it was your own personal sLeeping draught once before."

Sasuke seethed at the memory of the night he and the boys had been drugged. He'd never even _thought_ about it. He'd been persuaded by Naruko to eat the damn food in the first place, and for once hadn't thought to check it for poison. Waking up the taste in his mouth had been foul and familiar, but he'd never been able to place it.

Now that Orochimaru said it so bluntly, he had to wonder how he could have mistaken it for anything _else_ (it had been the only taste in his mouth for over a year at one time in his life). Not wanting to stop, he darted forward as his clone finished his hand seals and called out the release incantation.

"_Katon; Kamukawa no Jutsu!_"

A stream of chakra flood the ground as it was blown from the clones lips, spreading and fanning across the surface of the ground, and circled round to block Orochimaru off. The flames reached knee height, and while not as large as some techniques, covered a wide area, but the man was not to be fazed.

"_Suiton: Suiry__ū__dan no Jutsu!_"

Raising on hand, Orochimaru formed a few one handed seals a great dragon of water rose from the surrounding mangroves, surging towards his clones. Sasuke whirled himself up, using his wings to pull himself out of the way, running through the nine most natural and easies hand signs he knew-

He stopped before he freed the lightning chakra he had been forming as he saw the extent of the water, and Chōji's proximity to the weakly breathing blonde girl – _he couldn't use lightning while Naruko was nearby!_ - and in his hesitation, the dragon slammed into him. Sasuke was blasted back into the cliff face, above the other exhausted and injured Genin. With all his strength he used his chakra to fix himself to the face of the cliff, and glanced down at the scene.

Lee was back on his feet after the initial wave had blown him to one side, looking moderately stable for all the fighting he had already done. He wasn't sure how his chakra was holding up, but he hoped the boy still had his sword.

"My mind was elsewhere; why don't you enlighten me further?" Sasukee asked, pulling his sword to hand.

"Of course," Chōji smiled, opening his arms gaily.

* * *

><p><em>"You possessed Karui… She was your test subject. You were the one controlling her until Naruko killed her." <em>Even as Sasuke's words floated down to the clearing, Orochimaru's reply _("Correct") was_ heard by a second set of ears.

They echoed into Naruko's mind, bouncing around her dazed consciousness with ungainly disbelief. Karui had been _controlled?_ That couldn't be right! She had wanted an easy promotion! What did he mean he had been_ controlling _her?! How could Orochimaru possibly take control of someone to that extent?

'_Whelp, calm yourself,'_ Kurama echoed dimly, sensing something she could not. _'He speaks his words deliberately to unhinge you. Focus your mind! Whelp, your blood is poisoned! If you lose consciousness his mind will take hold! You need to-'_

Naruko listened to the fox even as his words faded, focusing on the sound within her mind and using it as a point of clarity through the oxygen-deprived fog which had taken hold of her.

At first she struggled to remember what exactly was going on – it was so hard to breathe – then she remembered flashed. Chunin exams. _Hinata._ Chōji. Sasuke? She could hear his voice, did that mean he was here too? She couldn't see him. But she could her him. He'd never come into the exam itself unless they really needed it.

It was so hard to breath. She dug her hands weakly against the arm that trapped her neck, vainly trying to get herself out of Chōji's hold. Sensations came and went, and she was aware of the fight going on around her only by the dull images, and her other senses.

She felt the heat as Sasuke's blasts from Gōenka fired down, then the sound of explosions filled her ears, the blast ricocheting around her. She managed to open her eyes just as she plunged beneath the water's surface, sinking into that sharp chill which flooded and seared her lungs. Then she felt a pull bringing her back to the air above.

Regain a little sense as the water soothed her aching gut and the burns on her skin, she caught a glimpse of smoke, the explosion, and watched as Chōji jumped back from it, a deep gash in his shoulder. Orochimaru was using his voice to speak, and she strained, trying to listen to what he was saying.

Plants? He had used the plants?! Naruko found it hard to believe, but continued to listen, hoping that she might hear something she could use to figure out how to help take the crazy bastard down and help Chōji.

She had to do something, but what? She was so drained of chakra that a rasengan was impossible, never mind a Fūton. She didn't even think she had enough for a simple _shunshin_.

The water around her began to run towards Orochimaru, and she watched as it grew yup into the form of a dragon. One that blasted towards them, it roared up over her head, slamming into Sasuke's grey winged form and hurling into the cliff face.

Naruko tried not to listen as the conversation mingled through the nearby fight, but it was difficult not to hear those words; they meant that Karui had been _innocent_. She had burned her to death in the most gruesome way possible, and she had been a victim of this man's twisted game? She felt sick.

This man had caused all this just for the sake of testing a new technique? He had possessed Chōji to cause nothing but destruction? _No!_ No, not _Ch__ō__ji!_ She couldn't stand the mere thought of him possessing Chōji, but that was what he was doing right at that very moment.

His foul mind was polluting her kind and loveable, earnest teammate. It was wrong. She couldn't let him keep this up, but what could she do? She could hardly move, and Lee and Sasuke were only just barely keeping up with him themselves.

Twisting her head as best she could, Naruko tried to make out the blurry shapes of her teammates. Lee was close enough to make out, weaving a vast number of hand seals in rapid succession as someone she assumed was Sasuke met and exchanged sword blows with who she guessed with Chōji. Then Lee's hand seals stopped, and the water drained towards him, forming a very, very large wave, the crest of which plunged down towards the two fighting shinobi.

As the water crashed down, re-flooding the clearing, Naruko paused her observations for the moment, closed her eyes, and tried to concentrate. What did she have left? What could she use? Could she make a seal?

As she searched her mind for a minimum chakra-use technique that would at the very least help her teammates Chōji's face appeared above her, hammer in his hand.

Naruko tried to move, angle her body away from Chōji, but a foot on her stomach stopped her even as he raised his hammer. "You have a talented student Sasuke; I haven't seen an Akimichi use the berserker trait so efficiently for years, but I wonder what will happen when he realises _he _wasthe one that killed her?" Orochimaru asked with a delighted curiosity in her teammate's voice.

The hammer began to fall, she heard Sasuke and Lee roaring in protest, and then everything went black as she did the first thing that came to her mind. _'Kurama, help me!'_ she begged internally, calling out to the fox as loudly as she could.

* * *

><p>The outside world vanished as the interior cage of her mind appeared. The Kyūbi's prison was rather dry – the water level proving just how little chakra she had to spare – but mould appeared to be growing in places.<p>

'_Kurama please!'_ she begged, hurrying to the bars of the cage. _'We can't fight him! I don't know what else to do! I don't know how to stop him without killing Ch__ō__ji! Please, you must know something, anything!'_

The fox glanced down at her. He was seated on his hind legs by the cage, as if watching, analysing, and listening. Naruko knew he had been. Slipping between the bars, she stood beneath his muzzle as it towered above and looked up.

'_You have never asked for my aid before,'_ he noted, sounding gruffly surprised. _'Can you truly think of nothing else? And I thought you were intelligent for a female.'_

Naruko kicked his closest paw and he yelped, glaring at her once again.

'_I cannot help you,'_ he said then, laying his head down in apology. _'If I were to take over now, you would lose your consciousness, and this is how his technique works. The poison lulls your mind to a sLeep, and then his mind takes over. If you used any of my chakra, it would pull your mind away for a moment and it would not surprise me if the snake-man hopes you do exactly that, for if you did, he would also control me. Were it wise I would do as you request, but in this particular choice, I would rather my chakra be used for your gain than his.'_

Naruko blinked, trying not to let tears creep up on her. There was nothing she could do? Even if she used the Kyūbi's power, it would just be turned against her?

'_So I'm just supposed to sit and wait for someone else to rescue us?!'_ she demanded. _'I can't! He's going to kill us at this rate! He's trying to kill me now! There has to be something!'_

The fox looked at her, and his brows furrowed. _'There may be something you have enough chakra left for,'_ he said. _'It may even give you're the human you want to mate with time to intervene.'_

Naruko ignored the comment about Sasuke (it wasn't _exactly_ untrue after all, just the Fox's animalistic vocabulary which made it sound crass). _'What do you mean?'_ she asked.

* * *

><p>"Of course," Chōji smiled, opening his arms gaily.<p>

He always had been a show off to Sasuke, never one to make a song and dance without the appropriate audience, even if he was evil incarnate.

"My attempts to find immortality recently brought me to examine the products of water country; I've investigated their uses as poisons many at time, but never their uses as panaceas. I wanted to see some of my creations as they reacted with that goal in mind, so I introduced my blood to the plants I had developed," he began, raising his hammer and slamming it to the ground with all of Chōji's strength. A great crack appeared in the earth, screeching up towards the cliff where Sasuke had stabilised himself.

With only seconds below the wall dislodged beneath him, Sasuke stopped the flow of his chakra, flapping his wings to pull himself back to the safety of the air, his ears intent on the words Orochimaru still spoke.

"I tested them on some other subjects first, and I found that the plants secreted a substance which, when it came into contact with the skin, was absorbed, and gave me an insight into their surface thoughts, so I decided to develop it further," he said, his eyes wide with an ecstasy only Orochimaru could find.

It was a face Sasuke knew far too well. "Karui," Sasuke guessed, dodging a hail of boulders that were being knocked in his direction. He had to get that stupid hammer away from Chōji. It was good when it was on his side of a fight, but not so much the opposite.

"Correct. Karui was a test of the concentrated substance. I controlled her completely; my mind occupied and supressed her own. I introduced the breed to Kumo gardens during your student's confinement, and soon I controlled several inhabitants within the village, and after Minato's retaliation they enforced and encouraged the rebellion against his brother." Orochimaru smiled. "I then introduced them to the arena here, very few, but enough to infect the participants who were not quite so resilient with their antidotes. The plants secreted their contents, and once absorbed, it was as if magnets drew me to your Akimichi boy here. As I make out, he tends to avoid his injections when he can."

Taking aim, he hurled his sword straight down, fissuring the blade with electricity. It sliced straight through the arm and through his shoulders, trapping it and bringing enough pain to momentarily distract Orochimaru, something Sasuke took note of. If Orochimaru could feel pain within his host's body despite not having physically possessed their body, then there was definitely a physical link.

He hadn't quite believed Orochimaru's explanations, though the man had no reason to lie. It just sounded too good even for him. Besides that, the notion of plants growing anywhere around him that might help Orochimaru possess people was incredibly unnerving.

There had to be _some_ sort of downside to the technique, or Orochimaru wouldn't have spent such a long time testing this supposed genus of foliage he'd developed.

Orochimaru recovered Chōji's body quickly however, and the damage to his arm was not completely cumbersome. It was with only slight irritation, Chōji raised his fingers as Sasuke yanked back his sword, rapidly forming a set of hand seals for a wind technique.

"_F__ū__ton; Daitoppa!_" Chōji cried, releasing a howling gale towards him, which Sasuke found difficult to stay airborne in.

His own chakra supplies were not inexhaustible, and due to its very nature and origins, he couldn't stay in his cursed seal body for long. He was already pushing his limit with it, but he didn't dare drop the form – Orochimaru's elemental techniques were not ones to sneeze at. Beating his wings, Sasuke managed to hold himself up against the blast, though it ripped and tore at his skin as it passed him.

Painful as that was, he had confirmation of the words Orochimaru had spoken of the techniques basis. Like the water element displayed earlier, the water element was not Chōji's. The DNA in the plant that Chōji had absorbed likely allowed Orochimaru to use his own elements whilst controlling his victim's body. Sasuke had to admire the technicalities, but the thought of trying to counter it made his head hurt.

If Orochimaru's DNA was in Chōji's bloodstream, or anyone else's for that matter, then the only way to save him would be via a medical procedure. Probably a sealing one nowhere near possible in a battle setting. The Genin had been right on the mark about knocking him out being the only option.

Thinking back to the plan Ino had spoken to him telepathically, the only thing they really lacked in that sense had been knowledge and man power. Even as a group, Chunin, strong as they could be and as much as Sasuke knew they were, were no match for the crazed experimenter.

Even a retired ANBU such as himself wasn't really enough. Sasuke had fought the man several times in the past, and frankly it was only luck and the expert healing abilities of his teammate which allowed him to survive.

He had to do something though; he could _not_ let this man overtake and control the lives of his students the way he had his own. He wouldn't be able to live with it if he allowed Orochimaru to affect them any more than he already had.

Focusing his chakra, he dispelled the illusion of wind that had settled over him, adapting and maintaining his hold on the cliff face he remained held to. With a quick blast of flame to burn through the mass of snakes which had emerged from Chōji's mouth Sasuke flew towards him for real, ignoring the spray of blood that resulted.

Properly retrieving his sword from where it had impaled into Chōji's shoulder, he narrowly dodged the swipe of Chōji's hammer, relying heavily on his family dōjutsu to keep up with the boy's unintended but unrelenting attacks.

Grabbing hold of Chōji's hammer arm, Sasuke finally managed to catch him before it swung down on him, running through a set of one-handed seals. "_Katon; Niku wo taberu kasai no jutsu!_"

His eyes set on Chōji's, he smirked within the illusion he had finally succeeded in setting up. Chōji stilled only for a moment before Orochimaru dispelled the imaginary flesh eating flames, but it was enough to seize the hammer from his hands and retreat to Lee's side.

"That won't hold him for long," Sasuke said, flickering to the black haired boy, where he stood some distance from Naruko; a glance back to Chōji showed that he had already recovered from the slight illusion. "How does your chakra feel?" he asked, tossing the hammer into the now waist deep water where it wouldn't be found without difficulty – Chōji would be upset, but he'd buy him a new one to replace it.

"Brimming with displeased youth, Sensei," Lee replied seriously, panting for breath. "Though I fear not quite youthful enough for my father's beautiful techniques. It appears my reserves are not as large as those of my esteemed companions." He glanced over their shoulders at his other teammate as he already started the hand seals Sasuke had painstakingly drilled into him as soon as he learned his second element was water. "But I made it last!"

"Good, because he's heading straight for us," Sasuke grunted, trying to hold his cursed seal form up a little longer as Chōji did something he had been hoping wouldn't happen. Calling up his chakra, he crossed his arms in front of his body in the shape of an '_x_', the middle fingers of his hands pointing up and down alternately.

"_Akimichi Kinjutsu; __ky__ō__b__ō__!_" Orochimaru laughed.

Lee's face paled, and Sasuke gave up trying to stay in the air, instead gripping his sword tightly and running his hand with some blood over the tiny purple Uchiha emblem carved into the black lacquer of the handle.

As Chōji's pupils began to disappear to tiny points before dominating the entire surface beyond his irises, a second chokutō appeared in Sasuke's hand. It very similar to the first in design but for its blue handle and white inlays. Wasting no time as Orochimaru forced Chōji into his berserker mode, he felt his muscles strain from the effort of keeping away the two simple kunai in Chōji's grip.

With broad swiped and lunges he managed to hold back the attack of Chōji's berserk state, but every blow seemed to get heavier and heavier with each passing moment, and it was relentless. As soon as his parried one blow with one arm, the second rose to block another.

It was incessant, and there was no rhythm or reason to the moves, they were mad, quick lunges which came about simply based of his reaction to Sasuke last blocks or, less frequently, his attacks. However, Chōji had trained all the skill needed to execute into his body via muscle memory, and they were not sloppy.

The uses of his Sharingan at such a quick speed to track Chōji's movements left an ache in his eyes that blurred his vision slightly, but he didn't dare let the dōjutsu fade.

"Lee!" he roared, starting to feel the pressure of Chōji's attack, his feet slipping on the water which had completely flooded the clearing, pushing him back towards his oldest student. His eyes following Chōji's every move, he managed to whirl under his arm and drop a slicing wound across his back.

The wound steamed as Chōji continued his barrage; autonomic calorie controlled healing? If Chōji were in his mind at all, Sasuke would congratulate him for mastering the skill without need for the Akimichi pills, but frankly it was nothing more than a hindrance.

Using his to beat him in the face and block a double handed attack, Sasuke hurled Chōji back into the mangrove trees; it was the last sighting of '_the monstrous tengu'_, as the form had once been known for the day. So close to Orochimaru, the malignant pull it came with was much stronger. Normally Sasuke could hold off its effects for several hours, but so close to Orochimaru, the seal could feel its master's demanding, incessant call all too clearly.

As the younger male slipped on the water from the force of the attack, Sasuke took quick advantage of the boy's slip and rammed his swords together, impaling him on it for sure this time, holding him in place just as Lee finished his set of complex hand seals, ignoring the continued swipes and attempted stabs Chōji maintained.

"_Suiton; Bakusui Shōha!_"

The gigantic wave that was summoned by Lee's chakra rose up around them, casting its shadow all the way up to the cliff where Shikamaru and the other Genin had taken refuge from the fight; with a single, forward pushing gesture from its conjurer, it surged forward, the crest of the wave roaring as it thundered down towards Sasuke and Chōji.

Taking is swords from Chōji's gut, Sasuke jumped back just in time to avoid the destructive force of the wave, watching as crashed down onto Chōji. He prayed it had knocked him out as he landed into the water, quickly pulling himself to the surface where Lee had collapsed to his knees from exhaustion.

"You have a talented student Sasuke,"

Sasuke's heart stopped as he whirled around to the spot where Naruko had landed atop the water. Chōji stood with only the shoulder wound from Lee as his injury, right next to the blonde girl. "I haven't seen an Akimichi use the berserker trait so efficiently for years, but I wonder what will happen when he realises _he _wasthe one that killed her?"

_No!_ How had he switched himself out during the explosion? Looking at the hammer that was being raised above Naruko's head, he swore for missing such an obvious trick. _He had transformed himself!_ The Chōji they had been fighting must have been one of Orochimaru's sturdier clones!

Desperation coursing through his veins, Sasuke pushed all the chakra he had left to his feet in hopes of intervening the blow before it struck. He couldn't let this happen! Orochimaru would not kill his team – he would not _let_ it happen! Not _again!_ Not to _her!_

"Naruko!" he roared, sprinting across the water as fast as his legs would take him.

* * *

><p>"No! Chōji stop him! <em>Stop!<em>" Lee shouted to his teammate, unable to miss the immediate danger Naruko was in. "Stop! He's going to kill her! You have to stop him!_ Ch__ō__ji!_"

Lee summoned all the strength he had, trying to open even his Kaimon as his feet splashed across the water in panic. His body seared in protest with every step as his already fragile chakra network struggled to cope with the damage from opening the Hachimon, and Sasuke quickly passed him.

The look on his face was not one he had ever seen on his usually calm and composed teacher, and for a moment, Lee felt the bewildering amount of fear in his teacher's chakra, and the same fear that was distorting his calm features leaked out unsettlingly around him.

His eyes were wide, and the sweat running down his cheekbones was soaking into his black flak jacket. His movements were not practiced, nimble or sure of themselves as they usually were. The gritted teeth in his jaw looked more like an attempt not to scream.

Even in a battle setting, Sasuke-sensei never got too riled up. Frome what he had heard of the invasion from Chōji, even then his anger had been relatively calm and composed. He hadn't shown fear in this way though.

He knew from village gossip that Sasuke had once been linked to Orochimaru when they were assigned to him as budding leaves fresh from the academy. Recently, Naruko had told him that he had actually been one of the three who survived his experimentation lab beneath training ground forty-four.

Knowing this made his fear make sense, but Lee was unsure that was all there was to it. This was more than just fear of a former torturer. He knew that expression – Naruko had worn as she caught sight of the Kumo Genin teams when they first arrived, and it wasn't the same at all.

Seeing his teacher so unravelled and desperate hade his feet feel unsteady as he struggled to maintain enough chakra to stay atop the water, but he strained himself all the same. Sasuke-sensei was still forcing every drop of energy he had in spite of his obvious internal turmoil, so it would be most un-youthful if he couldn't follow his example.

Following his teacher as he roared in protests and raced ahead, Lee had his katana already drawn in equal desperation, prepared to chop his best friend's arms off if that was what it took to keep him from murdering their teammate.

Chōji would never live with himself if Lee did anything less – it would be what the soft hearted lump would_ prefer! _He had to stop him, regardless of the fact he would _kill Naruko,_ Chōji would never be able to live with himself after. He'd die from breaking his own heart.

It wasn't fair – why_ Ch__ō__ji_? Why his teammates _again? _Despite the trials and tribulations of their initial Genin days, Lee had been under the impression that things had been improving for them, but what was going to happen when they finally got Chōji out of his trance?

What if he turned into a shell of his former self the way his female teammate had? Naruko was back on her feet, but something had been killed in her after what happened in Kumo.

That was understandable. He told himself that all the time, but it wasn't right. She wasn't the girl he had grown up with in the academy anymore.

She was trying, it _hurt_ to see how much she tried. He had _seen_ it, before the Chunin exams began, when she asked him if she was being a wimp for being terrified of her own chakra. She'd _thrown up_ after using it for the first time. She worked so hard to be herself again, but she still wasn't there, and Lee had the sinking feeling she wouldn't for a long time.

And yet watching her shell walk in her place was awful; Naruko wasn't a healer by nature, she wasn't a distance fighter. She liked fighting, and had always been best at close range, and she was barely breathing now because she had withdrawn from that, stopped using those skills unless there was no option.

Kumo had taken her shine away, like a gemstone that had been struck by lightning and split in two; the break was clean and repairable, but once it was stuck back together it lost its appeal. She just _wasn't_ the same, and the thought of this happening to Chōji too was too much.

Boosting his speed with his chakra, Lee raised his sword as he and Sasuke-sensei reached Chōji's back. Yet their actions were stalled as Naruko's hands slipped into sloppy hand seals, and brought her fingers to Chōji's skin.

His eyes recognising the hand seals before Lee's could catch up, Sasuke-sensei immediately halted, and before Lee could protest grabbed hold of his last stable student. With a burst of chakra from his feet, propelled them back to the relative safety of a rocky protrusion above the water line.

Before they landed, the water in the air around them and at their feet surged and frothed as her chakra ran over their bodies, and with a thunderous crack as it was conducted by the water activated.

Lee was speechless as iridescent, blinding light shone through the clearing, and the screech of a thousand birds filled of the air echoed up into the clouds.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Yay for almost completing the Chunin arc! You have no idea how much I want to get to the next chapters. I hate this arc now. Srsly. The last few chapters left me brain dead. Not a lot will happen just yet in regards to Sasuke and Naruko, but there will be some more development *evil grin* <em>**

**_The next chapters will focus on the aftermath of the Chunin exams, and then its back to Konoha for a few more twists, so to speak. Hopefully the extra long chapter makes up for the lack of updates. Life really has just been getting on the way this past year or so, and things are a little more back on track now. With the main block I had with this story finally pushed through, and future chapters mapped out, the updates will hopefully become a little more regular._**

**_Thank you for sticking with this story for so long :)_**

**_ Song Quote: 'Alice' (Extended Edition) by Avril Lavigne  
>Techniques used in this chapter are as follows:<em>**

**Katon; Gōenka_ – Fire Style; Great Flower of Flame._**  
><strong> Katon; Bakuneko no Jutsu<em> - Fire Style; Art of The Blasting Cats.<em>**  
><strong>Tsuchi Pachinko<em> - Slingshot Hammer.<em>**  
><strong>Shōmon Gekkō-Ryū: Mikazuki no Mai<em> - Gate of Pain Gekkō-Style; Dance of the Crescent Moon.<em>**  
><strong>Katon; Kamukawa no Jutsu<em> - Fire Style; Biting River .<em>**  
><strong>Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu<em>; Water Style; Art of The Water Dragon Bullet .<em>**  
><strong>Futon; Daitoppa -<em> Wind Style; Great Breakthrough.<em>**  
><strong>Katon; Niku wo Taberu Kasai no Jutsu<em> - Fire Style; Art of The Flesh Eating Flame.<br>_Akimichi Kinjutsu; Kyōbō_ - Akimich Forbidden Technique; Berserk (Can also be translated as Cruelty/Despair).  
><em>Suiton; Bakusui Shōha_ - Water Style; Exploding Water Wave._**

**_Nat.  
><em>****_xxx_**


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